This guide is for businesses operating on inland and categorised waters — the canals, rivers, lakes, estuaries and harbours that fall short of the open sea. Trip boats, restaurant boats, passenger launches, chain ferries and freight barges all sit here. The licensing comes from the navigation authority that controls the water you use, and the safety regime from the MCA's domestic codes. The universal workplace duties (health and safety, insurance, equality and data protection) are in Set up and run a safe water transport operation — start there, then work through the regimes below.
A. Navigation authority licence and Boat Safety Scheme
To use most inland waterways you need a craft licence or registration from the navigation authority that manages them — the Canal & River Trust on the former British Waterways network, the Environment Agency on the Thames and Anglian rivers, or the Broads Authority on the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads. In Scotland, the network is managed by Scottish Canals. The licence is largely a contractual condition of use, and as a condition the boat must hold a current Boat Safety Scheme certificate (a non-statutory safety standard). Check which authority controls every water you intend to operate on. Navigation-authority licensing and the Boat Safety Scheme cover Great Britain; the MCA domestic safety, vessel-technical, boatmaster and MAIB reporting regimes in the rest of this guide apply across the whole United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland.
B. Vessel technical standards
Vessels used on inland waterways must meet the construction and equipment standards in the Merchant Shipping (Technical Requirements for Inland Waterway Vessels) Regulations 2010, which provide for inland navigation certificates.
C. Passenger safety on categorised waters
If you carry passengers, the safety regime depends on the water. Small domestic passenger ships in categorised waters must develop and implement a Domestic Safety Management Code and hold the resulting MCA certification — the domestic counterpart to the international ISM Code. Passenger vessels on UK categorised waters must also meet the construction, stability, life-saving and survey requirements of the categorised-waters safety code and hold an MCA Passenger Certificate.
D. Boatmaster and crew certification
The person in charge of a passenger- or freight-carrying inland vessel must hold the appropriate MCA Boatmaster's Licence (or STCW certification) for the area and class of vessel, and minimum safe-manning requirements apply.
E. Reporting marine accidents (MAIB)
Accidents and dangerous occurrences involving a commercially operated inland vessel must be reported to the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB), the same marine reporting route that applies to sea-going ships. Shore-side incidents remain reportable to the HSE under RIDDOR — see the spine guide.
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What to do next
Confirm the universal duties in the spine guide are in place, then complete the water transport compliance checklist for the inland and categorised-waters items.
Official sources
Authoritative guidance for inland and categorised-waters operators.