RYA SafeTrx closed on 31 December 2025, and no official replacement has been announced. Your owner and vessel details went to an HM Coastguard database; the tracking and the overdue alerts simply ended. HM Coastguard’s advice now: carry a reliable means of communication, and tell someone at home where you’re going and when you’ll be back, so they can call 999 and ask for the Coastguard if you’re late. VesselSOS gives that person a live link, and texts them automatically if you don’t answer its “Are you OK?”.
On 4 December 2025 the MCA announced that RYA SafeTrx, the vessel tracking, safety and communications platform, would be discontinued from 31 December. The decision was the RYA’s, made in discussion with HM Coastguard, “due to advances in technology since the app’s inception”. The data users had given SafeTrx was transferred to a secure HM Coastguard database, unless they deleted their account before the closure. HM Coastguard says its search and rescue services are unaffected. The change applies only to the UK’s RYA SafeTrx: SafeTrx is still used in many other countries.
Boaters called the closure a loss: the tracking side had no official successor. Coverage: Marine Industry News, Practical Boat Owner. The MCA’s official announcement is on GOV.UK.
SafeTrx had one thing no commercial app can promise: its data went into the Coastguard’s own systems. VesselSOS doesn’t claim that, isn’t endorsed by HM Coastguard and isn’t an official replacement. In UK waters it does what HM Coastguard asks: it dials 999 and tells you to ask for the Coastguard, with your position and MAYDAY script on screen. What it adds is the live link for your people ashore. In a life-threatening emergency the right call is still 999 or 112, or VHF channel 16.
No. Owner and vessel data was transferred to a secure HM Coastguard database unless you deleted your account before 31 December 2025. You can update or remove it by emailing safetrxdata@mcga.gov.uk.
Not as of October 2026. HM Coastguard’s advice is to carry a VHF/DSC radio, a PLB or a phone in a waterproof pouch, wear a lifejacket, and tell someone at home where you’re going and when you’ll be back.
Yes. The MCA says the closure only applies to the UK’s RYA SafeTrx, and SafeTrx is still used in many other countries. Those versions don’t cover UK waters.
It’s in beta on iPhone (TestFlight) now, with Android later. The SOS screen is free; tracking and the return-time check are part of Pro (£2.99 a month or £17.99 a year, with a 14-day free trial). See the plans.