Marine policy debate is being hijacked by uninformed do-gooders

I HAVE just laboured through a recording of a UK transport select committee interrogation of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency chief executive Admiral Sir Alan Massey and its head of maritime services Philip Naylor, where they defended themselves against the cuts to its budget and Adm Massey’s four-year plan.

While Sir Alan did a very good job in responding to questions in a similar way to how the MPs asking them would have done, I felt for Mr Naylor, as he barely kept a wry smile off his face when tackling a question from one educated politician about the coastguard and its ability to deal with smuggling off Cornwall.

He calmly reminded the MP that the coastguard was concerned with search and rescue, as opposed to smuggling. The MCA is facing huge cuts and, while it should be questioned, I wondered if those tasked with overseeing it from the transport select committee should really do their homework first.

I will admit a bias here. I am no friend of self-serving politicians or public figures keen on seeing their own name in lights, rather than performing a public service.

The concern I have is also about complex maritime issues being tackled by people who lack the facts. Another politician on the same select committee — with erudite intent, at least — asked why the coastguard’s emergency response vessels were not making any money.

This lack of comprehension does not only apply to British politicians, but exists among the International Maritime Organization members as well. I have heard complaints that those attending the IMO committee
meetings on behalf of the maritime states that form its membership lack a thorough understanding of the industry.

Apparently there was a day long ago — though I do not remember it — when those in the meetings came from a shipping or shipbuilding background from around the world, which led to a coherent argument or debate about safety at sea.

Today the debates are more political, with a ‘you scratch my back’ approach that has more to do with self-serving agendas than a puritanical development of safe and sound ships and shipping.

The result is more long-winded arguments than necessary, I am told, and a great deal of discussion outside the IMO committee rooms, especially in the few outdoor places where members are still allowed to smoke