BrianH
Active member
Probably more a hiccup on the photo site where the scan resided than any censorship.
Here's the extract that I OCR'd from my copy of the RYA Magazine:
Legal - Onboard with the UKBA
Last year, the RYA wrote to the Government to challenge the UK Border Agency's 'stop and search' techniques. This followed a number of letters from members who felt that their treatment by the UKBA was 'heavy-handed'.
It was a question which had the RYA membership divided; some feeling that being boarded was actually quite justified, and a little exciting, others finding it an outrageous invasion of their privacy.
It clearly made a few members of the UKBA sit up and think, too, and the RYA was invited aboard HM Cutter, Valiant, to discuss the UKBA's approach to the boarding of yachts. The RYA's Sam Jefferson, was one of those stepping aboard. Here is his report.
The UKBA
From a personal point of view, I was very interested to find out more about the UKBA, particularly as the last time I had encountered these guys I had found myself staring down the barrel of a submachine gun while they rummaged through our boat off Dartmouth. Not particularly what you want after a gruelling delivery trip, but a very good story nonetheless.
That was back in 2000, a simpler time when they were known as HMRC; the name had changed, but these guys were keen to stress that their work has remained the same.
Doug McLellan is the Assistant Director of the Maritime and Aviation Operations of the UKBA, and he clearly feels very passionate about the wealth of history and knowledge within the organisation.
'HM Customs has been patrolling the seas around the UK for more than 400 years and we pride ourselves on the skills and knowledge that come with that heritage,' he says. 'The change from HMRC to UKBA has caused some confusion, but essentially the work we do has not changed at all, although obviously we are constantly modernising.'
Their work is also pretty exciting: a fleet of five cutters patrols the seas around the UK, using their speed to ensure they are in the right place at the right time. Much of their work involves intercepting drug shipments, and with 35-45 metric tonnes coming into the country every year, they have their work cut out.
Stepping aboard Valiant, it was clear that this is a very professional unit and, chatting to the crew members, it was also clear that they were very proud of the work they do. Of course, it's essentially good work - hunting down the bad guys and seizing the drugs - that kind of stuff. It's all very laudable.
Why board smaller yachts?
The question that remains, however, is what has that got to do with tramping aboard the yachts of bewildered RYA members out for a coastal trip and demanding personal information from them?
Well, according to the UKBA, quite a lot, and this is down to one simple statistic: around 80 per cent of the drug seizures made by the UKBA are from yachts. Doug explains, 'In recent years, drug smuggling has become increasingly sophisticated, and one of the main ways of getting drugs into the country is by a method known as coopering.
'This involves transferring drugs from a mother ship, which will not stray into territorial waters, onto a smaller daughter ship, which then makes the drop. A small yacht can be an ideal daughter ship, so even if you're on a coastal passage, we still need to be able to check what you are doing. The fact that one of our biggest seizures was from a beautiful 42ft ketch illustrates this point.'
Boarding methods
That's all very well, but what about the 'heavy-handed' boarding techniques, and hair-raising tales of men in black helmets marching down below with barely a 'hello' between them?
'Basically, we try to be as friendly as possible, but you have to remember that every vessel has to be treated as suspicious until we have checked it,' says Doug. 'People who are smuggling tend to be pretty desperate characters, and officers have died on operations, so we have to take it seriously.
'We generally send two crew aboard and while one chats in the cockpit, the other heads down below to check for booby traps. Booby-trapped boats are fitted with an explosive device, which means that if they are boarded, they blow up and destroy the evidence. Members of the boarding party have to keep their helmets on as these have their radio communications equipment built into them - just like the RNLI's.
The RYA fully supports the UKBA's efforts to secure the UK border against drug trafficking, terrorism, illegal immigration and other criminal activity
In terms of the boarding party being armed, this would only occur if we were carrying out a special operation with the police or special forces. Our crews never carry guns themselves and if we are running an operation with the police or special forces then it's generally because we have strong intelligence to suggest there are weapons onboard the target vessel.'
Out on the water
Naturally, the UKBA were keen to show us what they did, so on a glorious winter morning we cruised around the Solent and stopped a couple of hapless, innocent vessels.
Recreational boaters are generally a pretty happy bunch, and this was certainly reflected in the reception the UKBA crew got when they hopped aboard. For most of us, the whole thing is a bit of a novelty and a good story to tell when you get back to port. Besides which, we're all keen to help out when it comes to keeping our borders safe.
But the point is that many of you have objected to rather heavy-handed intrusions by the UKBA in and around the Solent. It was obvious to me that the difference between a stressful, intrusive boarding and a good-humoured one is all in the attitude of the boarding parties involved. Seamanship can also play a hand in this, and there were a number of stories from RYA members of poor boat handling creating a fraught situation.
Doug gave us his thoughts on this. 'We really do pride ourselves on our seamanship and I would take any story of bad boat handling very seriously. All of our guys are very rigorously trained and we all understand the sea and boats, so bad handling would be seen as a very serious issue.
'We try to make sure that all the crews have a friendly approach, but you do have to remember that we are doing a serious and potentially dangerous job.'
UKBA powers
The UKBA mainly relies on the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 and the Criminal Justice (International Co-operation) Act 1990 for its powers.
The 1979 Act gives the UKBA wide powers to board any ship and 'rummage and search any part' at any time while a ship is within the 'limits of a port'. Unlike harbour authorities, whose limits generally do not extend far out to sea beyond the harbour entrance, for the purposes of the 1979 Act the 'limits of a port' extend to the seaward limit of the territorial sea and so the whole of the UK territorial sea falls within the 'limits of a port' as far as the UKBA is concerned.
The 1990 Act essentially implemented the 1988 Vienna Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances and gives the UKBA powers to stop, board and search a ship and to demand information (and documents) relating to the ship or anyone on it, but these powers are restricted to the detection and enforcement of drug-trafficking offences.
Doug accepted that the UKBA did not have general authority to require yachtsmen to produce documents they were not obliged by law to carry but he emphasised that a refusal by yachtsmen to cooperate might raise his officers' suspicions and extend the time that they needed to spend in satisfying themselves that a yacht was entirely innocent.
Working together
We were keen to point out to our hosts that the RYA fully supports the UKBA's efforts to secure the UK border against drug trafficking, terrorism, illegal immigration and other criminal activity. But we reminded the UKBA that the people best placed to identify unusual or suspicious activity within the recreational sector were yachtsmen themselves. The UKBA therefore needed to ensure that it had the support, cooperation and goodwill of recreational boaters. The RYA explained that if the UKBA was perceived by yachtsmen to be taking a heavy-handed or insensitive approach to its boarding of yachts then it risked alienating yachtsmen and creating a more hostile environment in which to operate.
'The last thing we want to do is upset the recreational boaters, as they are a vital source of intelligence to us and we really do value their help,' says Doug. 'To upset them is no good for us at all. We are still doing what Customs has done for the last 400 years, and law-abiding boaters are a key to us succeeding.
'We are all seafarers and we respect boaters and what they do, and our aim is for our conduct to gain similar respect.
The RYA will be holding regular meetings with the UKBA to address any issues that arise from HM Cutter activity in the recreational boating sector. Please let us know of any 'stop and search' operations involving yachts that you would like us to discuss with the UKBA.
Last year, the RYA wrote to the Government to challenge the UK Border Agency's 'stop and search' techniques. This followed a number of letters from members who felt that their treatment by the UKBA was 'heavy-handed'.
It was a question which had the RYA membership divided; some feeling that being boarded was actually quite justified, and a little exciting, others finding it an outrageous invasion of their privacy.
It clearly made a few members of the UKBA sit up and think, too, and the RYA was invited aboard HM Cutter, Valiant, to discuss the UKBA's approach to the boarding of yachts. The RYA's Sam Jefferson, was one of those stepping aboard. Here is his report.
The UKBA
From a personal point of view, I was very interested to find out more about the UKBA, particularly as the last time I had encountered these guys I had found myself staring down the barrel of a submachine gun while they rummaged through our boat off Dartmouth. Not particularly what you want after a gruelling delivery trip, but a very good story nonetheless.
That was back in 2000, a simpler time when they were known as HMRC; the name had changed, but these guys were keen to stress that their work has remained the same.
Doug McLellan is the Assistant Director of the Maritime and Aviation Operations of the UKBA, and he clearly feels very passionate about the wealth of history and knowledge within the organisation.
'HM Customs has been patrolling the seas around the UK for more than 400 years and we pride ourselves on the skills and knowledge that come with that heritage,' he says. 'The change from HMRC to UKBA has caused some confusion, but essentially the work we do has not changed at all, although obviously we are constantly modernising.'
Their work is also pretty exciting: a fleet of five cutters patrols the seas around the UK, using their speed to ensure they are in the right place at the right time. Much of their work involves intercepting drug shipments, and with 35-45 metric tonnes coming into the country every year, they have their work cut out.
Stepping aboard Valiant, it was clear that this is a very professional unit and, chatting to the crew members, it was also clear that they were very proud of the work they do. Of course, it's essentially good work - hunting down the bad guys and seizing the drugs - that kind of stuff. It's all very laudable.
Why board smaller yachts?
The question that remains, however, is what has that got to do with tramping aboard the yachts of bewildered RYA members out for a coastal trip and demanding personal information from them?
Well, according to the UKBA, quite a lot, and this is down to one simple statistic: around 80 per cent of the drug seizures made by the UKBA are from yachts. Doug explains, 'In recent years, drug smuggling has become increasingly sophisticated, and one of the main ways of getting drugs into the country is by a method known as coopering.
'This involves transferring drugs from a mother ship, which will not stray into territorial waters, onto a smaller daughter ship, which then makes the drop. A small yacht can be an ideal daughter ship, so even if you're on a coastal passage, we still need to be able to check what you are doing. The fact that one of our biggest seizures was from a beautiful 42ft ketch illustrates this point.'
Boarding methods
That's all very well, but what about the 'heavy-handed' boarding techniques, and hair-raising tales of men in black helmets marching down below with barely a 'hello' between them?
'Basically, we try to be as friendly as possible, but you have to remember that every vessel has to be treated as suspicious until we have checked it,' says Doug. 'People who are smuggling tend to be pretty desperate characters, and officers have died on operations, so we have to take it seriously.
'We generally send two crew aboard and while one chats in the cockpit, the other heads down below to check for booby traps. Booby-trapped boats are fitted with an explosive device, which means that if they are boarded, they blow up and destroy the evidence. Members of the boarding party have to keep their helmets on as these have their radio communications equipment built into them - just like the RNLI's.
The RYA fully supports the UKBA's efforts to secure the UK border against drug trafficking, terrorism, illegal immigration and other criminal activity
In terms of the boarding party being armed, this would only occur if we were carrying out a special operation with the police or special forces. Our crews never carry guns themselves and if we are running an operation with the police or special forces then it's generally because we have strong intelligence to suggest there are weapons onboard the target vessel.'
Out on the water
Naturally, the UKBA were keen to show us what they did, so on a glorious winter morning we cruised around the Solent and stopped a couple of hapless, innocent vessels.
Recreational boaters are generally a pretty happy bunch, and this was certainly reflected in the reception the UKBA crew got when they hopped aboard. For most of us, the whole thing is a bit of a novelty and a good story to tell when you get back to port. Besides which, we're all keen to help out when it comes to keeping our borders safe.
But the point is that many of you have objected to rather heavy-handed intrusions by the UKBA in and around the Solent. It was obvious to me that the difference between a stressful, intrusive boarding and a good-humoured one is all in the attitude of the boarding parties involved. Seamanship can also play a hand in this, and there were a number of stories from RYA members of poor boat handling creating a fraught situation.
Doug gave us his thoughts on this. 'We really do pride ourselves on our seamanship and I would take any story of bad boat handling very seriously. All of our guys are very rigorously trained and we all understand the sea and boats, so bad handling would be seen as a very serious issue.
'We try to make sure that all the crews have a friendly approach, but you do have to remember that we are doing a serious and potentially dangerous job.'
UKBA powers
The UKBA mainly relies on the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 and the Criminal Justice (International Co-operation) Act 1990 for its powers.
The 1979 Act gives the UKBA wide powers to board any ship and 'rummage and search any part' at any time while a ship is within the 'limits of a port'. Unlike harbour authorities, whose limits generally do not extend far out to sea beyond the harbour entrance, for the purposes of the 1979 Act the 'limits of a port' extend to the seaward limit of the territorial sea and so the whole of the UK territorial sea falls within the 'limits of a port' as far as the UKBA is concerned.
The 1990 Act essentially implemented the 1988 Vienna Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances and gives the UKBA powers to stop, board and search a ship and to demand information (and documents) relating to the ship or anyone on it, but these powers are restricted to the detection and enforcement of drug-trafficking offences.
Doug accepted that the UKBA did not have general authority to require yachtsmen to produce documents they were not obliged by law to carry but he emphasised that a refusal by yachtsmen to cooperate might raise his officers' suspicions and extend the time that they needed to spend in satisfying themselves that a yacht was entirely innocent.
Working together
We were keen to point out to our hosts that the RYA fully supports the UKBA's efforts to secure the UK border against drug trafficking, terrorism, illegal immigration and other criminal activity. But we reminded the UKBA that the people best placed to identify unusual or suspicious activity within the recreational sector were yachtsmen themselves. The UKBA therefore needed to ensure that it had the support, cooperation and goodwill of recreational boaters. The RYA explained that if the UKBA was perceived by yachtsmen to be taking a heavy-handed or insensitive approach to its boarding of yachts then it risked alienating yachtsmen and creating a more hostile environment in which to operate.
'The last thing we want to do is upset the recreational boaters, as they are a vital source of intelligence to us and we really do value their help,' says Doug. 'To upset them is no good for us at all. We are still doing what Customs has done for the last 400 years, and law-abiding boaters are a key to us succeeding.
'We are all seafarers and we respect boaters and what they do, and our aim is for our conduct to gain similar respect.
The RYA will be holding regular meetings with the UKBA to address any issues that arise from HM Cutter activity in the recreational boating sector. Please let us know of any 'stop and search' operations involving yachts that you would like us to discuss with the UKBA.
