Marine licensing: applicant guidance

How to apply

The Marine licensing - exempted activities: guidance clarifies whether your activity is exempt from the requirement to obtain a marine licence.

You should ensure that you can meet the conditions of the exemption and determine if your exempted activity requires notification to, or approval from, MD-LOT.

If you need a marine licence, you should submit an application form(s) with all relevant supporting information to MD-LOT.

Application forms can be found in supporting documents.

Read more information on application fees.

An invoice for the application fee will be issued when an application is received and initial checks have been carried out. The invoice will provide information on accepted methods of payment, all payments should reference the invoice number to allow the payment to be processed efficiently and to prevent delays. Application fees must not be sent with applications prior to receiving an invoice.

The application must include:

• the relevant application form(s), signed, dated and each section completed in full and all required information included
• a clear description of the activity
• a suitably scaled map or chart showing:
  • the location of the activity
  • the full extent of the works in relation to the surrounding area
  • latitude and longitude co-ordinates defining the location of the activity
  • the level of MHWS
  • any adjacent SAC, SPA, SSSI, MPA, Ramsar or similar conservation area boundary
• the latitude and longitude coordinates of the activity in World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84) degrees, decimal minutes format XX°X.XXX’N  XX°X.XXX’W or E
• Any other supporting information that may be required e.g.
  • technical drawings of the activity
  • Pre-Application Consultation report
  • Environmental Impact Assessment Report
  • information to inform a Habitats Regulations Appraisal
  • information to inform Marine Protected Area assessment

Our supplementary guidance on specific activities provides further guidance on supporting information requirements.

Latitude and longitude coordinates

Latitude and longitude coordinates of the activity must be provided in World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84) degrees, decimal minutes format XX°X.XXX’N  XX°X.XXX’W or E e.g. 57°8.567’N  2°5.383’W.

Coordinates taken from recent admiralty charts or GPS equipment are likely to be available in WGS84 compatible datum and in degrees, decimal minutes format.

Latitude and longitude (WGS84) coordinates can be given in the following formats

• decimal degrees e.g. 57.1427833 -2.0897167
• decimal degrees e.g. 57.1427833°N 2.0897167°W
• degrees, decimal minutes e.g. 57°8.567’N  2°5.383’W
• degrees, minutes, seconds e.g. 57°8’34’’N  2°5’23’’W

If you don’t have access to admiralty charts or GPS, coordinates can be taken from other maps and converted to latitude and longitude (WGS84) degrees, decimal minutes.

The online ordnance survey map shows locations in British National Grid and latitude and longitude WGS84 format in degrees, minutes, seconds. Right click on a location and view the details.

Latitude and longitude WGS84 format in degrees, minutes, seconds can then be converted to degrees, decimal minutes.

This online map also shows locations in latitude and longitude WGS84 (move to location and click transform, input coordinates can then be changed to degrees, decimal minutes (dm)).