You need to register your boat (powered or unpowered) with the Environment Agency and display a valid boat registration if you keep or use your boat on any of the waterways we manage.
You can find out how to register your boat for our different waterways using the links.
Waterways we manage
We manage the following waterways for navigation:
- Non-tidal River Thames (Cricklade Bridge to Teddington)
- River Medway between Allington Lock and the Leigh Barrier (Tonbridge)
- River Great Ouse System, including:
- Bedford Ouse below Kempston
- Ely Ouse including the Forty Foot River below Horseway Lock, Old West River, Old Bedford River and New Bedford River (also known as Hundred Foot River/Drain or Relief Channel)
- River Little Ouse (Brandon Creek), Ten Mile River, River Wissey, River Lark and River Cam (below Bottisham Lock)
- River Nene from Northampton to Wisbech
- River Stour below Brundon, Sudbury (Suffolk)
- River Ancholme
- Black Sluice Navigation (also known as South Forty Foot Drain) between Donington Bridge and the Boston Haven
- Rivers Welland and Glen
- Royal Military Canal between West Hythe Dam and Iden Lock
We are also the Harbour Authority for Rye and the Conservancy Authority for the Dee Estuary.
You can simply register your boat on the waterway where you use your boat, or buy a Gold Licence which allows you to use your boat on all Environment Agency and Canal & River Trust waters.
Changes to Boat Safety Scheme certificates from April 2013
From April 2013, the Boat Safety Scheme (BSS) Certificate examination recording process moves into a central database system and the format of the printed BSS certificate changes.
The introduction of a new-look, receipt-style certificate will end the requirement to send the blue copy of the BSS Certificate.
There has been no change to the examination process, just the follow-up documents.
If your boat passes an examination, you will be given a copy of a new, receipt-style BSS Certificate, also called a BSS Examination Report, to keep for your own records.
The new system means we can verify whether your boat has passed a BSS Examination and if that pass is still valid.
Existing BSS Certificates will continue to be valid until reaching the expiry date.
There are more details on the BSS website and information will be given to owners of every boat that passes an examination:
Changes to our boat registration service
We have made some changes to our boat registration administration service. Information about these changes and how they may affect you is available in our Boat registration changes document.
When you visit Rye Harbour, or for annual mooring, you need to get a licence from the harbour office and pay your harbour dues.
Contact us
You can contact our boat registration team by phone on 03708 506 506 or by email at
boatreg@environment-agency.gov.uk
