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Do I need a Marine Licence?

Information about marine licensing requirements in England

Find out whether you need a marine licence before you undertake works in the marine environment.

Throughout tidal waters in the UK - whether you are building an extension to your club facilities (slipway, pontoon, etc), undertaking navigational dredging or simply installing a single mooring - you will in most cases be required to first obtain consent through the relevant marine licensing authority. In many cases, this consent will be in addition to planning permission, landowner consent, permits from the Environment Agency and advice/ consents from statutory nature conservation bodies such as Natural England.

In England the marine licensing authority is the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), who have licensing powers under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. The RYA has persistently lobbied the MMO since its inception to ensure that the marine licensing requirements for recreational boaters are proportionate to the scale of activity undertaken.

Our proactive engagement has secured many improvements for boaters including:

  • exemptions for low-risk activities (e.g. some navigational dredging and racing marks)
  • accelerated and self-service licences (e.g. marker buoys, maintenance works)
  • reduced licence fees for projects (between £5k to £1m)
  • clarification of activities deemed “non-licensable”
  • a greater understanding by the MMO of the recreational boating sector

What do I need a licence for?

The MMO says “you are likely to need a marine licence if you are depositing or removing any substance or object either in the sea, on or under the sea bed from a vehicle, vessel, aircraft, marine or land-based structure or floating container. Any form of marine dredging is also licensable”.

A marine licence is only required for activities involving a deposit or removal in the UK marine area which broadly-speaking is the area below the mean high water springs mark and in any tidal river to the extent of the tidal influence.

Some activities are considered non-licensable and some have been made exempt from the licensing process. All others which meet the definition above will require a marine licence. Some lower-risk activities are eligible for a self-service licence, and all others require a full standard marine licence. Standard marine licences are cost banded. For more information see the MMO fees information. 

Applications are made through the MMOs Marine Case Management System. Their interactive tool can be used to determine if you may be eligible for a self-service licence, and their GIS tool allows you to search spatial information in and around your proposed activity location. 

For more information as to whether your activity might need a marine licence, please look at 'Exempt or non-licensable activities' below. 

If your works are solely above mean high water springs then you will not be required to apply for a marine licence but you may need planning permission. Between mean high and mean low water springs you will need both planning permission from your local authority and a marine licence. In most cases for works solely below mean low water, you will not be required to obtain planning permission, but it is worth checking with your Local Authority as in some areas their jurisdiction extends further - such as where two or more Local Authorities share responsibility for an estuary or river. If your facility is in a designated conservation site (SSSI, SPA, SAC, etc.) then it is likely that you will need a statutory consent/ licence from a government conservation body, such as Natural England.

Regardless of where your works are in the marine environment, you are likely to require land owner consent (such as from The Crown Estate), you may need permission if you are within a harbour authority’s jurisdiction, and you could need a permit from the Environment Agency or agreement with Natural England. There are many overlapping controls on works in the marine environment, as you can see below, and in many cases, you will need more than one licence or permit to undertake works.

For further information about marine licensing, including fees and charges, visit the MMO website or speak to an MMO case officer about your works on 0300 123 1032.

Other permissions you might need when undertaking works in the marine environment include:

Contact Us on environment@rya.org.uk if you would like further assistance.

Advice on using the MMO self-service licensing system.

Overview

In July 2017, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) replaced their fast track marine licensing with a self-service marine licensing system. This service is also available through the MMO MCMS system.

If your activity does not fall under an exemption, and you require a marine licence, the MMO licensing tool can indicate whether you may be able to apply for a self-service licence.

Self-service activities, laid out in the self-service activities table, of relevance to recreational boating include:

  • Certain marker posts and marker buoys (including race markers);
  • Removal or replacement of a single pile;
  • Scaffolding to maintain existing structures;
  • Repainting of existing structures;
  • Removal of marine growth from existing structures (excluding from vessels);
  • Re-rendering, resurfacing or repointing of existing structures or slipways; and
  • Minor maintenance for the upkeep or small-scale repair of an existing structure.

Self-service licences cost a flat fee of £50, paid in advance. Changes or variations are not permitted once the licence is issued.

General criteria for a self-service licence include:

  • the activity must be completed within 12 months of the licence being issued;
  • the activity must not need an Environmental Impact Assessment;
  • the activity area should not exceed 10 square miles (or separate locations must not be more than 10 miles apart and in total their areas must not exceed 10 square miles);
  • the activity is not within a site protected under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986;
  • the activity is not within, or in the approaches of, an International Maritime Organisation (IMO) routing measure, unless relating to management or maintenance of the measure; and
  • any intrusive activity (such as dredging, boreholes etc.) is not in an area shown on an admiralty chart as hosting cables, pipelines or other existing assets or structures, unless the purpose of the activity is to mark, maintain or enable continued use of the asset or structure.

The MMO GIS tool provides spatial information on many designations to aid your application.

Once the licence has been granted, the MMO needs to be notified no less than 24 hours before the licensed activity begins, using the returns function in the MCMS.

Marine licensing assistance tool

This tool guides you through a series of questions to determine if your proposed activity requires a marine licence, and whether it is suitable for the self-service licensing process. The tool asks questions to ascertain whether the activity is proposed to take place in an area under MMO marine jurisdiction and the type of activity to be carried out. Potential self-service activities will be tested against further questions, and indication given if you require a method statement. Activities unsuitable for self-service licensing will be directed to the standard marine licensing process.

GIS data tool

The MMO GIS tool for marine licensing can be used to determine if your activity falls within the MMO marine licensing areas, the size of your proposed site, or distances between locations in the same application. It includes layers of:

  • Marine areas and the high water mark
  • Military usage
  • Cables and pipelines
  • Harbour administrative areas
  • IMO routing measures
  • Heritage Sites
  • Marine Protected Areas including MCZs, SACs, SPAs, Ramsar sites and SSSIs

Method Statements and Consents

For certain self-service licences, method statements, agreed with the relevant body, are required before the licence can be granted. Templates to prepare draft method statements are available on the MMO website, with details as to where to send them. These can then be uploaded when you submit your application. Method statement requirements are laid out on the MMO website, and in their method statement requirements table.

Historic England

Heritage designation applies to protected wrecks under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973, scheduled monuments designated under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 and listed buildings designate under The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation) Act 1990.

A method statement is required in agreement with Historic England for:

  • Activities in or involving vehicular access through a heritage designation;
  • Activities that involve establishing the presence or nature of items of archaeological or historic interest; and
  • Activities involving removal of items of archaeological or historic interest, or from a wreck site anywhere at sea.

A draft method statement, and relevant contact details are available on the MMO website.

Natural England

Activities in, or within 200m of, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs; including MCZs, SACs, SPAs, Ramsar and SSSIs) may be suitable for self-service licensing, if an agreed method statement with Natural England is included. This includes activities involving vehicular access across MPA intertidal coastal habitats. A draft method statement, and relevant contact details are available on the MMO website.

Some selected activities, including the following that may be relevant to recreational boating, do not require a method statement, as adequate mitigation is expected through self-service activity criteria and conditions applied to the licence:

  • Repainting of structures or assets which includes preparation work;
  • Removal of marine growth from structures and assets other than vessels;
  • Deposit and subsequent removal of marker buoys including racing markers;
  • Deposit and subsequent removal of scaffolding or access towers;

Ministry of Defence

Activities proposed to be carried out in areas used for military or defence purposes may be suitable for self-service if carried out by, or on behalf of, the MoD, or the MoD has been consulted and permission granted to carry out the activity. Areas under MoD jurisdiction are available in the MMO GIS tool, and details of who to contact at the MoD are available on the MMO website.

Maritime and Coastguard Agency/ Local Harbour Authority/ Trinity House

A method statement, agreed with either the local harbour authority or the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and Trinity House, is required for any scaffold which may impede safe or normal navigation through the reduction of head clearance or navigational channel width. A draft method statement, and relevant contact details are available on the MMO website.

Lighting and marking configuration for any markers must have been agreed in advance with the local harbour authority, or if such body doesn’t exist, Trinity House. A draft method statement, and relevant contact details are available on the MMO website.  

Further Consents

In addition to a marine licence, further consents may also be required, such as:

  • planning consent for works above the low water mark;
  • scheduled monument or listed building consents for certain designated heritage assets;
  • land owner consents such as the Crown Estate; and
  • Environment Agency Approval where works have implications for flood defence or involve a discharge, through an environmental permit.

For further advice or support contact the Planning Team on planning@rya.org.uk. 

Information from the RYA about how the Marine Management Organisation are focusing on non-licensable activities involving recreational craft

Although many activities in the marine environment are licensable under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, many low risk or otherwise well-controlled activities were made exempt through The Marine Licensing (Exempted Activities) Order 2011  and further exemptions were added by The Marine Licensing (Exempted Activities) (Amendment) Order 2013.

For clubs undertaking maintenance and other works, the Exempted activities are split into three categories:

  1. Exemptions for which no notification is required
  2. Exemptions which require notification to be given to the MMO
  3. Exemptions which require approval from the MMO

The RYA has persistently lobbied the MMO since its inception to ensure that the marine licensing requirements for recreational boaters are proportionate to the scale of activity undertaken. As a result, some of the activities which exempt from a marine licence (but require notification to be given to the MMO) are:

  • Maintenance dredging (with certain conditions) of not more than 500 m3 per campaign, and no more than 1,500 m3 a year 
  • Temporary marker buoys (deployed for up to 28 days) 
  • The deposit or construction of pontoons by or with the consent of a harbour authority (subject to limits in size and numbers)
  • Small removals for sampling (up to 1 m3)
  • Removal of objects accidentally deposited on the seabed (items lost overboard and recovered within 12 months)

The MMO requires operators undertaking some exempted activities to notify the MMO through their Marine Case Management System. You will need to register to create an account, then once you have logged into your "workbasket" click "Application Hub" from the menu on the left of the page and then select "Notify MMO of an exempt activity". Please contact the RYA Planning and Sustainability Team on 02380 604223 or on environment@rya.org.uk if you would like help completing this form.

There is no fee for exempted activities. We have been advised by the MMO that notifications need to be submitted on an annual basis for example for laying temporary race marks, and should not be used for longer-term activities. For further information about exemptions, visit the MMO website or speak to an MMO case officer about your works on 0300 123 1032.

Washing slipways

Although the Act is all encompassing, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has taken the approach that some activities are simply not considered to be licensable. If your activity is not licensable you are not required to obtain a marine licence, but you may still need to obtain planning permission, an environmental or conservation/ wildlife consent before undertaking the works.

One such activity is the washing of slipways which the MMO does not regard as licensable, though it is worth reading the MMO guidance on cleaning slipways. However, you may require an environmental permit as anyone making a discharge to surface water (for example a river, stream, estuary or the sea), or to groundwater (including via an infiltration system) may need to apply for an environmental permit to make that discharge. If the water is clean surface run-off, for example from a clean hard standing area, you do not need a permit. More information on environmental permitting for discharges to surface water and groundwater can be found on the Environment Agency website. 

Further information is available on the RYA advice page for Cleaning Slipways. 

Conservation Sites

Management of non-licensable activities by the  Marine Management Organisation (MMO) within conservation sites centres upon the UK Marine Protected Area (MPA) network of Marine Conservation Zones (MCZ) and associated designated sites (SSSI, SPA and SAC). To protect habitats and species the MMO may introduce voluntary and legal measures. The RYA recognises the need to conserve and protect sites, but such measures should be proportionate and work with the boating community to ensure long term sustainable use of designated areas. Within MPAs, the MMO are currently focusing on the impact and management of: 

  • non-motorised water craft (e.g. kayaks, windsurfing, dinghies);
  • powerboating or sailing with an engine – anchoring and mooring, launching and recovery, participation;
  • sailing without an engine - anchoring and mooring, launching and recovery, participation; and
  • diving and snorkelling.

Any work being undertaken within a statutory conservation site (SSSI, SPA , SAC, etc.) may also require a consent from Natural England under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.

For further information about licensable activities visit the MMO website or speak to an MMO case officer about your works on 0300 123 1032.