Fleet management software for workboats: getting ready for Workboat Code Edition 3
Workboat Code Edition 3 transition ends 13 Dec 2026. How fleet management software for workboats keeps certificates, PMS and LOLER records in order.
If you run workboats, pilot boats, aquaculture support craft or small offshore vessels in UK waters, 13 December 2026 is a date to circle. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and the Workboat Association have issued a joint “Check. Prepare. Book” message to operators affected by the transitional arrangements for Workboat Code Edition 3, which end on 13 December 2026 (GOV.UK).
That deadline is a good moment to look at how your fleet’s records are kept. Many small operators run on a patchwork of spreadsheets, shared drives, paper logbooks and message groups. It works until a surveyor, an auditor or a client asks for evidence and someone has to pull it together by hand. This guide explains what changes, which records a workboat operator needs to keep on top of, and what to look for in fleet management software for workboats.
This is a plain summary, not legal advice. Read the Code and your certifying authority’s guidance for your own vessels.
What Workboat Code Edition 3 changes, and who it affects
Workboat Code Edition 3 came into force on 13 December 2023. The MCA says it applies to vessels of up to 24 metres in commercial use, including pilot boats, and is based on a new revision of the Merchant Shipping (Small Workboats and Pilot Boats) Regulations 2023 (MCA announcement). It brings earlier requirements into a single publication, and existing vessels certificated under the Brown Code, its equivalent standard in the technical annex to MGN 280(M), or Workboat Code Edition 2, Amendment 1 have to move across (The Workboat Code Edition 3, GOV.UK).
New workboats and pilot boats have had to use Edition 3 from the date it came into force. Existing vessels must meet Edition 3 by their next renewal examination or three years after the Code came into force, whichever is later. That is why 13 December 2026 matters: the MCA says it is when the first cohort of vessels not to have transitioned must have secured the correct certification to remain active (GOV.UK).
Three details are easy to miss:
- No mixing and matching. The MCA says that where an existing vessel phases in to Edition 3, it must do so fully. It cannot meet a combination of Edition 3 standards and those of earlier codes (GOV.UK).
- Safety management has the same date. MCA guidance in MGN 710 (M) says all vessels certificated under Edition 3 must implement a safety management system proportionate to the size, complexity and risk profile of their operations by 13 December 2026, and explains how operators can show that system is working at vessel examinations.
- Survey slots are the bottleneck. The joint message exists because the MCA and the Workboat Association want to avoid end-of-year demand for surveys causing a shortage of slots, with vessels tied up while they wait to be seen by certifying authorities.
Why the paperwork, not the boat, is often the problem
When an examination or audit goes badly, the evidence is often the issue rather than the vessel. A typical small fleet keeps:
- vessel certificates and survey dates in a folder per boat,
- crew certificates in a spreadsheet that is updated when someone remembers,
- planned maintenance in the skipper’s or engineer’s head, or a paper book on board,
- lifting gear examinations on a separate list kept by whoever arranged the last one,
- risk assessments, drills and toolbox talks on paper in the wheelhouse.
When a renewal examination comes up, the office has to rebuild the picture by phoning round. With a fixed deadline and limited survey slots, that delay costs days you may not have.
The records a workboat operator needs to keep on top of
Fleet management software for workboats should cover the records that come up at every examination, audit and client vetting. For most UK operators, that means five areas.
1. Vessel certificates and survey dates
Every boat needs its certificate and its examination dates visible at a glance, across the whole fleet, so you can plan surveys and book them before the slots go.
In WaterTightVM, the vessel certificates register keeps certificates per vessel with document storage, inspection schedules and a fleet view of upcoming renewals. There is no built-in Workboat Code certificate type. You record it as a vessel certificate with your own title, such as “Workboat Code”, plus the issue date, expiry date, survey due date and inspection dates, such as annual or intermediate examinations. That gives the office one place to see which vessels face an Edition 3 renewal examination, rather than discovering them late.
2. Crew certificates and competence
Small crews mean every certificate counts. If the one person holding a required qualification lets it lapse, the boat may not be able to sail. With WaterTightVM’s certificate compliance module, crew add their certificates from the crew app as a photo or PDF, choosing from a fixed list of certificate types that includes the MCA Workboat Endorsement. The certificate holder gets expiry reminders at about 90, 30 and 7 days, on the expiry day and once overdue, and the office sees what is expiring on the web dashboard.
3. Planned maintenance and defects
A workboat earns money when it is working, so maintenance has to be planned around the job, not discovered on it. A planned maintenance system (PMS) gives you an equipment register, scheduled jobs, spare parts and defects in one place, and it is included on every WaterTightVM plan.
WaterTightVM’s maintenance management module does that. Crew can prepare the crew app while connected, complete jobs on board without a signal and sync when the vessel is back in range (offline sync). The office sees the maintenance backlog and open defects across every vessel without calling the skipper.
4. LOLER: cranes, davits and lifting gear
Many workboats carry cranes, A-frames, davits and loose lifting gear. On UK vessels these fall under the Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment) Regulations 2006. Regulation 12 requires lifting equipment or an accessory for lifting that is exposed to conditions causing deterioration to be thoroughly examined:
- at least every 6 months for lifting equipment for lifting persons and for accessories for lifting,
- at least every 12 months for other lifting equipment,
- or, in either case, in line with an examination scheme drawn up by a competent person,
- and whenever exceptional circumstances occur, which include modification work, accidents, natural phenomena and prolonged periods of inactivity (legislation.gov.uk, regulation 12).
The MCA’s guidance on the regulations is MGN 332 (M+F) Amendment 4. The “prolonged periods of inactivity” trigger matters for workboats that are laid up over winter or tied up waiting for a survey.
WaterTightVM’s LOLER lifting equipment module is an optional module that works alongside the PMS, included from the Advanced plan up. It keeps a register of lifting appliances with inspection types and certificates, reminds you before each examination falls due and lets you sign off several items in one pass. Because it sits with maintenance, there is no separate LOLER spreadsheet to keep in step.
5. Safety management, drills and risk assessments
Clients, insurers and auditors want to see a working safety system, not a binder. WaterTightVM’s safety management tools cover incident reporting, drills and exercises, risk assessments, safety meetings and an SMS document library where crew read and acknowledge documents in the crew app or on the web.
The Safety module also holds Workboat Code records: a company checklist, a three-year review, pre-departure briefings for vessels under 24 metres load line length, and a record of MAIB filings. These are your own records, kept separately from the certificate register. WaterTightVM does not file anything with the MAIB or the MCA for you.
When the MCA issues a new notice, such as its updated guidance on hydrodynamic interaction in narrow channels and shallow water (MGN 199 (M) Amendment 1), you can send it to crew as a document to read and see who has acknowledged it.
What to look for in fleet management software for workboats
Software built for large deep-sea fleets often fits a five-boat workboat company badly. When you compare vessel management software, check these points.
- It is sized for small fleets. You should be able to start with the records that hurt most, such as certificates and maintenance, without a long rollout.
- It works offline. Workboats spend their day in lochs, wind farms and harbours with patchy signal. Crew need to record work without a connection.
- Ship and shore share one record. The skipper and the office should see the same certificates, jobs and defects, not two versions that drift apart.
- It covers UK needs. A LOLER register, MCA guidance notices and UK crew certificates should be part of the system, not a separate spreadsheet.
- Evidence comes out easily. Before a survey or client audit, you should be able to pull certificates, maintenance history and safety records from live data.
- Crew will actually use it. A simple crew app beats a desktop portal nobody logs into at sea. WaterTightVM’s iOS crew app is currently in TestFlight beta, and tablets can use the installable web app (mobile app).
WaterTightVM was built by a Master Mariner for small to mid-sized fleets and single-vessel operators, including workboat, offshore and aquaculture support companies, as well as other vessel types. See the platform for the full module list, or read how operators move away from spreadsheet vessel management. For another UK regulatory change, see our note on the MCA consultation on the Domestic Safety Management Code.
A pre-deadline checklist for workboat operators
Use this list in the weeks before 13 December 2026:
- List every vessel and the code it is currently certificated under (Brown Code, the MGN 280(M) annex, Edition 2 or Edition 3).
- Note each vessel’s next renewal examination date, and work out which ones must meet Edition 3 by 13 December 2026.
- Contact your certifying authority and book survey slots now, as the MCA and the Workboat Association advise.
- Check your safety management system against MGN 710 (M) and how you will show it is working at the examination.
- Check crew certificates for anything expiring in the next six months.
- Bring planned maintenance up to date and close out open defects before the surveyor arrives.
- Check every crane, davit and lifting accessory against its last thorough examination, including gear that has been idle.
If any of those steps means opening five folders and a spreadsheet, that is the case for putting it in one system.
Get your workboat fleet ready
The Edition 3 deadline is a fixed date, and survey slots will not get easier to find in December. Getting certificates, maintenance and lifting gear records into one place now makes the next examination, audit or client vetting simpler to prepare for.
Book a demo to see WaterTightVM with your own fleet in mind, or see the platform first.
Sources
- The Workboat Code Edition 3, GOV.UK
- One workboat code launched to simplify safety rules and support new technology, MCA, 13 December 2023
- United message for Workboat Code Edition 3 deadline: “Check. Prepare. Book”, MCA, 23 February 2026
- MGN 710 (M) Safety management systems for small workboats and pilot boats, GOV.UK
- Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (LOLER) Regulations 2006, regulation 12
- MGN 332 (M+F) Amendment 4, GOV.UK
- MGN 199 (M) Amendment 1 Danger of interaction, GOV.UK