Workboat owners and operators with vessels requiring a survey by December 2026 are being urged to act now to avoid missing the deadline for transition to the updated Workboat Code Edition 3 safety standards.
The message is being issued jointly by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and the Workboat Association to those affected by transitional arrangements to the Workboat Code Edition 3 ending on 13 December 2026.
The aim is to avoid demand for surveys at the end of the year causing a shortage of slots, and the potential for vessels having to be tied up while they wait to be seen by certifying authorities. Continue reading “Workboat Code Edition 3 deadline – check the code, prepare the vessel, book the survey”
Marine surveyors and boat owners are regularly heard to say there is a minimum 4.0mm of hull thickness required at time of survey of a steel narrowboat. Some brokers even publish videos of such information, with some surveyors enforcing it (Whilton Marina, 2012 and 2016). Boaters are subject to it and repair often follows. In a recent article, Geoff Waddington (2021) explains there is confusion in the industry about wastage limits, and consequently acceptable residual hull plate thicknesses, and opinions among surveyors ‘vary wildly’, with some quoting 3mm acceptable minimum plate thickness, others using percentage loss. This short paper explores what a standardised acceptable limit for diminution, and therefore residual steel plate thickness for narrowboats, could be. It describes a variety of methods of calculating the design plate thicknesses (scantlings) and the minimum acceptable residual plate thickness. In doing so, this paper aims to serve as a guide for inland waterways marine surveyors, boat owners, repairers, and insurers alike. 
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