The Maritime and Coastguard Agency has published a consultation titled “Consultation on the proposed merchant shipping and fishing vessels (medical stores)(amendment) and light dues (amendment) regulations 2027”, the department-recorded item appearing on the government publication list on 30 October 2026. The document signals proposed regulatory amendments affecting two discrete areas of merchant shipping law.
The notice identifies two instruments for amendment: the merchant shipping and fishing vessels (medical stores) regulations 1995 and the merchant shipping (light dues) regulations 2025. The consultation title frames the measures as proposed regulations for 2027, indicating the amendments would be enacted under that calendar year if taken forward.
Scope of the consultation
According to the published entry, the consultation concerns updates to the long-standing 1995 medical stores framework for merchant shipping and fishing vessels alongside changes to the light dues regulations first consolidated in 2025. The entry presents these two strands together under a single consultation heading, reflecting a coordinated approach to proposed changes rather than two separate announcements.
The reference to the 1995 regulations denotes the continuing statutory basis for medical stores carried on board UK merchant shipping and fishing vessels. The consultation title explicitly links that regulatory foundation to the proposed 2027 amendment, while separately identifying the 2025 light dues regulations as the other instrument under review.
Regulatory context
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s listing on 30 October 2026 makes clear this is a formal consultation document published by the UK government department responsible for maritime safety and regulation. The entry’s wording confines reporting to the fact of publication and the two named statutory instruments; it does not itself set out the detailed content of the proposed amendments within the notice supplied here.
The use of the words “proposed” and the date bracket 2027 in the consultation title indicate that the measures remain subject to the consultation process and to any subsequent decisions by Ministers or officials to lay amending regulations. The published item therefore marks a stage in the regulatory process rather than a final amendment having already been made.
The document on the government publications list is presented as a consultation rather than a completed statutory instrument, and its date stamp is 30 October 2026. That date establishes when the Maritime and Coastguard Agency placed the consultation on the public record.
This consultation entry is recorded on the UK government platform and is attributed to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. It is offered as a formal proposal to update the merchant shipping and fishing vessels (medical stores) regulations 1995 and the merchant shipping (light dues) regulations 2025 under the rubric of proposed regulations for 2027.
The publication of this consultation will be of interest to those who monitor developments in merchant shipping regulation, but the listing supplied here is limited to the notice of consultation and the two instruments named. The entry does not contain further explanatory material in the notes provided, and no extracts of amendment text or draft regulatory wording are included in the supplied summary.
Readers seeking the full consultation text, any annexes, or procedural details such as response mechanisms or timelines should consult the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s published item on the government platform directly; the record for this consultation carries the date 30 October 2026 and the formal title quoted at the head of this report.