The United Kingdom Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has begun installing Nemo I-VMS devices on the fishing fleet as part of its efforts to finally have monitoring for its under-12-meter fishing fleet.
MMO announced new guidance on the I-VMS rollout in June, granting eligible fishermen the ability to register for a Nemo device from CLS UK (previously Fulcrum Maritime Systems) to replace existing Succorfish SC2 devices. Those devices needed to be replaced after the MMO confirmed that the Succorfish SC2 had not transmitted any positional data to the U.K. VMS hub for six months, defeating the entire purpose of the I-VMS rollout.
The problem is the latest issue in a string of troubles for MMO’s attempt to rollout I-VMS, which was supposed to be fully introduced in 2023. However, the initial rollout hit a snag when the MMO determined some of the devices the organization said met the government’s criteria failed after independent testing.
That discovery led to the MMO halting the rollout and forced the organization to help affected fishers who purchased one of the devices – the Satlink Nano and the Maritine Systems MS44.
Manufacturers of the devices the MMO nixed pushed back on the claims the devices didn’t meet the standards, and Maritime Systems accused the MMO of participating in a “witch hunt” against its devices, which until that point had accounted for 95 percent of those sold to meet the requirements. It also said testing found problems with all four devices the MMO had initially approved.
“However, only Maritime Systems has been singled out with revocation of the type approval for their I-VMS device. Two others have been allowed to fix their issues, and one has declined from continuing in the project due to lack of sales,” the company said.
Despite the hiccups and accusations, the I-VMS rollout proceeded, and by October 2023 had entered its final phase.
Over a year later the MMO made the discovery that the Succorfish SC2 – which was among the type-approved devices – hadn’t transmitted data for half a year and needed to be replaced. At the time the issue was discovered, MMO said only one device was still type-approved for use to meet the I-VMS data transmission standards.
“At this time, only one device is transmitting data to the UK VMS Hub which is a requirement under the I-VMS license condition,” MMO said.
MMO Head of Regulatory Assurance Sean Douglas acknowledged the rollout has been “challenging” for fishermen.
“We will support those who have already secured an I-VMS device to comply with their license condition by ensuring they have devices that transmit positional data to the UK VMS Hub,” Douglas said. “We have made every effort to streamline the process to reduce the financial and administrative impact on individuals who register by the deadline.”
