News: Board of Trade publishes report on maritime trade

This fourth publication by the Board of Trade sets out how the UK can deliver the trade benefits of the National Shipbuilding Strategy refresh.

This paper puts forward the Board’s thoughts on:

• global trends and the importance of the maritime industry to trade
• UK strengths and opportunities within the maritime sector
• how trade and investment solutions can address challenges in the global maritime sector

Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade, Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP, said:

Trade and the sea have always been inseparable and the world’s reliance on healthy and productive oceans runs deep. Government recognises the importance and huge future potential of the UK maritime sector. Shipbuilding and our maritime industries can Level Up coastal areas, increase economic growth and resilience, help us deliver Net Zero and strengthen our national security. 

I welcome this Board of Trade exploration of a rapidly growing, changing, global blue economy and the position of UK trade within it. This report represents an important step towards defning an ambitious trade agenda in support of the refreshed National Shipbuilding Strategy as the maritime industry strides into the fourth industrial revolution. 

Leading themes which emerge are the need to connect world-class UK technology to global gaps, such as sustainability and maritime protection, and infuence positive change in the sector by leveraging our strengths in maritime services and regulation. Other themes include driving more investment into maritime infrastructure and addressing distortions in the global sector that diminish innovation, resilience and competitiveness. 

The UK has a distinguished reputation as a maritime nation and champion of the whole system solutions demanded by the 21st century global maritime sector. I am absolutely convinced that, working together as government and industry, we can ensure that our maritime future is even brighter than our illustrious maritime past. The Department for International Trade is ready for that challenge.