Blog: Maritime UK's 2020 Year in Review

To champion and enable a thriving maritime sector: these two primary objectives have been at the heart of everything that Maritime UK has done this year. Championing the sector to government and customers whilst working with members to directly deliver activity that makes the sector stronger.  

The year started with a new strategic plan being signed off by members at a meeting of the National Council chaired by HRH The Princess Royal. Our challenge over the past twelve months has been to deliver as much of the strategic plan as possible whilst working dynamically with members to respond to the unprecedented challenge of COVID-19 and prepare for the end of the UK’s transition period with the EU. These challenges have required closer working across the sector than ever, and with members, we have done just that. Close and collaborative working is not just a ‘nice to have’, it is something that is essential for the future of our maritime sector, something that member companies expect, and government requires.

For me, one of the greatest successes this year has been how Maritime UK and its members have been able to ensure capacity and bandwidth to work on the response to COVID, preparations for the end of transition and the longer term ‘business as usual’ challenges and opportunities we have set ourselves through Maritime 2050. Indeed, in thinking about recovery from COVID-19, we have been able to think afresh about our collective prioritisation of these challenges.

Pandemic

Throughout the pandemic we have worked closely with members and in partnership with government to serve the best interests of the sector. From convening regular meetings of industry leaders to share intelligence, surveying regional SMEs, making speedy recommendations to government to improve the provision of support, delivery of targeted support and guidance to the early thinking on recovery, Maritime UK, its members and government have worked closer than ever to support the sector. It has also been an opportunity to remind the country of the unique role maritime workers play in keeping food, energy and medicine flowing into the country. Building the sector’s profile in recent years has provided a platform on which to shine a spotlight on specific areas of challenge, such as cruise. We did this by making the link between the industry and its economic contribution to coastal communities.   

The maritime industries come together through Maritime UK to make progress on key areas of shared interest. Within the strategic plan we set out these key areas, or National Priorities, and the rest of this round-up will focus on this year’s activity in each area.

Politics

In recent years, the sector has been becoming more politically savvy and responsive. We’ve been able to align our own priorities with that of government and present the sector as critical to realising government’s own agenda. We have ‘worked with the grain’ on levelling up, getting to net zero, boosting exports and becoming a science superpower. All flagship government priorities that are embodied in Maritime UK’s 2020 Budget Submission and Comprehensive Spending Review campaign. We set ourselves a challenge to broaden government engagement and increase the depth of understanding across Parliament about the sector. We’ve managed to do so, with fortnightly Parliamentary Bulletins, drop-in sessions, regular briefings and new innovations like bringing together the chairs of all relevant maritime parliamentary groups to make sure we’re all pulling in the same direction on the key priorities. We have seen a spike in the number of questions or debates on maritime and this helps show government that maritime is a cause important to their colleagues in Parliament. There has been a step change in the level of engagement at the centre of political power and close working with special advisors across government, including in Downing Street. This has helped the sector make progress on our challenges, but also created purposeful relationships to respond to specific issues when needed, such as during the pandemic. And finally, we set an ambition to build a media profile beyond Brexit, and we have done so – with a particular focus on the role the sector can play in terms of getting to net zero, driving economic development in coastal communities and standing up for free trade.

Environment

Besides COVID and Brexit, the story of 2020 has surely got to be on climate change and our collective human response to it.

From Maritime UK’s point of view, much of our focus from the summer onward has been on developing – for the first time – a thorough, compelling, and robust Comprehensive Spending Review bid. This included a cross-sector campaign to engage the media, industry and parliamentarians with our cause.

Together with members we developed an ambitious three-year CSR bid. The bid comprised of a £1bn investment to support decarbonisation. Following campaigning and lobbying (including finding common cause with Council Leaders and Mayors in coastal towns and cities), the Department for Transport endorsed the bid and submitted to the Treasury. The following day, the Chancellor decided to cancel the three-year CSR and instead conduct a single-year Spending Review owing to the pandemic. Maritime UK’s focus then shifted to identifying any opportunities to cement the sector’s role in green recovery, and the ‘ten point’ plan for a green industrial revolution was identified. Working in partnership with government, and utilising the strengthened political relationships now in place, the sector benefits from:

• an economy-wide £240m in Net Zero Hydrogen fund
• £160m to modernise ports to support offshore wind
• £20m for Clean Maritime Demonstrator Programme
• £20m freight trials to support hydrogen and zero emission HGVs

Crucially, maritime is now anchored in the government’s flagship decarbonisation blueprint (alongside aviation). Our focus in 2021 will be on working with government to ensure the funding allocated is effectively utilised and a compelling bid can be submitted when an expected three-year CSR is announced next summer. Maritime UK will be sharing information early in the new year on the £20m Clean Maritime Demonstrator Programme and how industry can engage.

In the run up to the next CSR, Maritime UK will be delivering a series of ‘Road to Net Zero’ events, with the first held last week and co-chaired by the Shadow Environment Secretary. These help to shine a spotlight on the developments already occurring in each part of the country, and make the link between maritime decarbonisation and the potential boost to jobs and growth in the area. Working with the Centre for Economics and Business Research, we estimate that an investment of £1bn would create around 75,000 ‘green collar’ jobs, many of these in coastal areas.

A notable win this year was government funding (£33.1m) for the Belfast Maritime Consortium, through Innovate UK’s Strength in Places programme. Having since joined Maritime UK, we are keen to learn from the consortium’s success and see how it can be replicated in nations and regions across the UK. Recognising that more and more government funding is being channelled through such regional schemes means that we have to change how we seek to secure the funding we need to meet the sector’s ambitions.  

The Department for Transport’s inaugural Clean Maritime Awards – recognising and celebrating excellence along the sectors’ journey to net zero – were held as part of the Maritime UK Awards in Plymouth last month.

One of the most encouraging developments this year has been the way in which non-maritime organisations are looking at maritime as a sector offering opportunity and somewhere that they might be able to being external experience to solve the challenges we face. This includes the KTN launching its Decarbonising Ports and Harbours Innovation Network and Carbon13, with whom Maritime UK has agreed a partnership to help identify, support and develop start-ups focused on reducing CO2e emissions by ten million tonnes.

With the UK hosting COP26 next Autumn, we have an unrivalled opportunity to both influence global decision-making on climate change and to showcase the best that our country has to offer the global industry to decarbonise.

People

In May we launched the Diversity in Maritime programme, with dedicated networks: Pride, Ethnicity, Women and Mental Health. We were delighted to welcome Chrissie Clarke to the team to lead the programme. It has since been growing and developing existing initiatives like the Interview Pool, Speaker Bank and Charter, whilst launching new initiatives driven by colleagues attending the networks, such as a Book Club, Employer Mental Health provision survey, and new toolkits on creating a Culture of Care and holistic approach to mental health and wellbeing. It has been tremendous to see colleagues from across the sector coming together in safe space networks during what has been the most difficult of years for many of us. To ensure we can continue to develop, grow and provide the crucial forum for colleagues going forward, we launched a series of programme sponsorship packages, and we’re looking forward to announcing the first sponsors in the new year.

In parallel we welcomed Lorna Wagner to the team to lead our Careers and Outreach Programme, another key programme established in response to Maritime 2050. Her role has been to build upon the work of the Careers Taskforce, through a new national Careers and Outreach Strategy. Signed off in July, we have been busy talking about the sector to key audiences such as teachers, parents, careers advisors, maritime museums, young people, and those already in work. To support this, a suite of new resources has been created (the most popular being virtual tours of boats, ships and ports, which have had over 4,100 views on social media). We’ve produced three new regional maritime careers videos (Solent, SW England and Merseyside) and delivered our first Virtual Careers Fair which had 528 people in attendance. Earlier in the year, at the height of the first lockdown, a programme of virtual lessons was delivered and broadcast into homes across the UK. To ensure we’re creating the most useful resources possible, the new Careers' Professionals Network, which now stands at 253 careers professionals based in schools and colleges, has been engaged throughout. They are receiving regular briefings and we’re delivering targeted CPD sessions and content to make sure we’re equipping this important group of influencers as best we can. A major milestone was the launch of the cross-sector ambassador scheme in September with ‘Inspiring the Future’ and currently have 69 ambassadors representing maritime, half of whom have already delivered their first careers activity with a school or college. There are now 49 industry Career Campaign Partners who are working to promote the programme using the custom content and resources. Lorna has also worked with each regional cluster to craft bespoke regional engagement plans. Next term there will be an increased focus on our digital channels and a major project to match Maritime UK’s careers provision to the Gatsby Benchmarks, as well as a major presence at events including National Careers and Apprenticeship weeks.

This July, the Maritime Skills Commission was established to ensure a robust understanding of where future skills requirements stand, and how to meet them. Professor Graham Baldwin of the University of Central Lancashire is the chair. Reporting to both the Maritime Minister and Maritime UK National Council, the Commission is comprised with industry figures from across the sector and UK. Already, the Commission has an impressive work programme, with projects including:

• Labour Market Intelligence Scoping Report
• Seafarer Cadet Review
• Future Workforce Research
• Convene an initial meeting of those interested in exports
• Covid-19 and Use of Technology in Learning
• Current and Projected Skills Survey
• Autonomous Digital

In October, the Commission published its first Annual Report. It’s really important that all people and skills activity is linked and through the Commission both the Diversity and Careers and Outreach programmes are well integrated. With the secretariat being provided by Chrissie Clarke, we’re able to identify crossover and synergy too.  

The Maritime Masters programme, led by Linn Vardheim, was delivered virtually throughout 2020 – an example of a programme where virtual working enabled more to happen, and regardless of when people return to offices next year, virtual engagement will increase next year. Students from across the country were again matched with industry adopters and supported with advice, mentoring and data as they worked through their dissertations. During Maritime UK Week,  Andrea Chipolina from the University of Southampton was named as the 2020 winner for her research on the performance of flapping foils on a wave-powered autonomous vehicle.

Competitiveness

With COVID preventing most of the face-to-face business development opportunities planned for the year, we’ve worked with the Department for International Trade to reallocate funds to other activity, such as new and comprehensive collateral – including physical and digital assets to promote our maritime business across the world.

There has also again been a series of Developing Sector Knowledge briefings to ensure those in the UK’s diplomatic and commercial posts overseas are equipped with the most up-to-date information on the products, services, and investment opportunities they’re selling on our behalf.

Work has also progressed on the measures necessary to attract new investment into the sector. This work includes options for various scenarios with regard to the UK’s future relationship with the EU. We look forward to discussing with government in the new year.

We understand that some of the best and wisest investment government can provide to maritime companies is to help with exports and with members we’ve been identifying various funding streams that we need to link our businesses to. There will be a series of webinars in the new year to make sure our businesses are accessing all the funding that they can.

In March, the third UK-US Maritime Nations Forum was held aboard HMS Prince of Wales in Liverpool, just before the first national lockdown came into force. Work is already underway on London International Shipping Week 2021 – perhaps one of the first major events of its kind to be held after the hiatus caused by the pandemic. We will do everything we can to make sure the global industry spotlight shows the best of our country in the best way possible.

Regional Growth

The sector has been successful in presenting itself as a partner and solution to the government’s levelling-up challenge. For government, the Freeports initiative has been its flagship policy in this space, and Maritime UK and its members have been heavily involved in shaping the model now open for bids.

Maritime UK’s Regional Council has firmly established itself as an important forum for inter-regional collaboration this year, particularly in responding to COVID. The Council is also playing a clear role in engaging clusters with national activity – be that on careers or in developing the CSR bid. The Council and its members were heavily involved at a local level in developing a series of maritime projects seeking funding through LEPs that Maritime UK was able to support on a national level, unlocking significant public funding in August.

The Regional Cluster Development Programme, led by Simon Eardley, has focused this year on existing clusters: Mersey, Solent, South West, Scotland and Humber, as well as working with partners in the South East and East of England to establish similar clusters. In addition, the Belfast Maritime Consortium is being developed into a full cluster, having come together to develop zero-emission ferries .

Work toward the end of 2020 has been focused on developing framework Regional Cluster Development Plans, to be agreed with each region in the new year. These will set out the objectives for each region, in key areas such as innovation. Maritime UK is keen to identify – as far as possible - the unique specialism for each region, so as to both promote the complimentary UK offer to customers, but also prevent competing and overlapping bids to schemes like Strength in Places.

Innovation

Maritime Research and Innovation UK (MarRI-UK) has this year grown from a concept to a living, breathing asset as the UK’s national collaborative vehicle for maritime research and innovation. Within the past twelve months funding has been announced on decarbonisation, maritime technology more generally and specifically for smart maritime land operations. We thank the Department for Transport for providing funding to support MarRI-UK’s creation and development.  

The Maritime UK Technology and Innovation Group (TIG) has set a new work programme, with early deliverables being the establishment of a dedicated sector funding portal and soon-to-be-launched National Projects Database to ensure maximum awareness of specific projects and offer opportunities for collaboration.

The Maritime Autonomous Systems Regulatory Working Group (MASRWG) delivered its fifth conference at 30 Park Street in January and published its latest guidance in November. The sixth conference is being held virtually in January. The Codes of Practice are important components of the UK’s pitch on maritime autonomy.

Brexit

There has been an enormous amount of work to get ready for the end of transition for Maritime UK and its members – from working on detailed border operating systems to helping small businesses work through checklists ranging from HR to VAT and data. Just as the sector has worked closely through COVID, we will need to do so again in January and beyond. The sector is well aware of the unique role it plays in keeping freight flowing, and will once again be in the spotlight as the UK finds its feet as a newly independent trading nation. 

Whilst there is much to feel downbeat about this Christmas, there is much to be optimistic about too – amidst the most challenging of times, real progress has been made. The second Maritime UK Awards, live streamed from Plymouth in November showcased much of this fantastic work. 

On 1 January Sarah Kenny will become Chair of Maritime UK, having been Vice Chair for the past two years. She will be replaced by Robin Mortimer of the Port of London Authority. The maritime sector owes a huge amount to current Chair Harry Theochari for where it is today. Even in spite of a global pandemic, his deft leadership leaves the sector in a stronger position than it was two years ago.

Special thanks too to Paul Owen, our Team Coordinator, who keeps the machine running, and the Royal Fleet Auxillary for his secondment into Maritime UK over these past eighteen months.

I’d like to thank all members of Maritime UK, companies, sponsors and partners, for their hard work this year. We’re rooted in one simple belief – that by working together we achieve more than we do on our own. On behalf of the team, we wish you all as restful a Christmas as possible and look forward to working with you in the new year.