UK Marine Mark

The Merchant Shipping (Marine Equipment) Regulations 2025 (MER) are the UK product marking requirement for products being placed on the market in the United Kingdom. This Marine Equipment UK Conformity Assessment replaces the EU Marine Equipment Directive (MED) for the UK market.

Marine Equipment UK Conformity requirements for Marine products being placed on the UK market from the 1st January 2023 are defined within MSN 1874, as amended.

The mark for Marine Equipment UK Conformity is known as the Red Ensign mark, this replaces the wheelmark used for EU MED conformity.

HOW DOES THIS UK PROCESS AFFECT YOU?

From 1 January 2023 equipment placed on the UK Market needs to use the following approval routes:

1. Marine equipment holding UK conformity approval granted by one or more UK Approved Bodies, bearing the Red Ensign mark for marine equipment and otherwise compliant with the UK Regulations;
2. Marine equipment in the Annex of the latest MSN 1874, approved by the US Coast Guard under the UK-US MRA (USA. No.4 (2019)), accompanied by a US declaration of conformity and affixed with the Red Ensign mark.

The following provisions have been made for in-service equipment:

1. MED approved marine equipment placed on board a UK flagged vessel before 1 January 2023 can remain on board for the duration of its operational life and only when items are replaced, must they be replaced with UK approved marine equipment in accordance with the requirements of MSN 1874, as amended.  This means that MED approved equipment that is on board a UK flagged vessel prior to the 1 January 2023 can remain on board until the end of the equipment’s operational life.
2. Equipment that is defined as a ‘spare’ part can continue to be placed on board a United Kingdom ship.  Spares are replacements of Wheelmarked or Red Ensign marked products which ensure continued functionality (i.e., via maintenance or repair) of a wider product or system on board a United Kingdom ship.
   

WILL YOU NEED TO RE-LABEL ALL YOUR PRODUCTS WITH THE UK CONFORMITY MARK FOR MARINE

Even if your device is Wheelmarked under the MED, you will need to comply with UK requirements and apply the UK Mark of Conformity to be able to place your product on the market in the UK.

There are no separate requirements for Northern Ireland. For additional information see Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) Marine Information Notice 590 available here:

UK Marine Equipment Regulations

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Access to the regulations and guidance information can be found here:

UK Marine Equipment Regulations

The MCA maintains a list of marine equipment which has been granted UK conformity assessment. This is updated monthly, and is available here:

WHY CHOOSE TÜV SÜD FOR MARINE EQUIPMENT UK CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT?

With our TÜV SÜD Danmark Notified Body and TUV SUD BABT operating as a UK Approved Body, our team will be able to offer both Wheelmarking and the UK Conformity Mark for Marine.

The scope of TÜV SÜD's appointment under the MED:

• Annex UK/1 (Life-saving Appliances) *Limited to UK/1.2 and UK/1.33.
• Annex UK/4 (Navigation Equipment)
• Annex UK/5 (Radiocommunication Equipment)

Testing for most product types within the scope of TÜV SÜD appointment can be conducted by our own accredited laboratory.