Shipping industry leaders met government ministers at 10 Downing Street yesterday to discuss securing Britain’s competitive position in the maritime sector.
The meeting coincided with the start of London International Shipping Week, organised by Maritime UK and other industry partners.
Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: “This is an industry with a natural home in the UK and London is the centre of the world for the professional, business and financial services that keep ships sailing.”
The government announced that the £12 million a year budget for the government’s ‘Support for Maritime Training’ (SMarT) programme would receive a boost of up to £3 million a year, an increase of 25 per cent, over the Spending Review period to the end of 2015/16. This would support up to an additional 200 trainees a year.
Shipping is a growth industry in the UK and gross tonnage has more than trebled on the UK shipping register over the past decade. Employment in shipping has doubled from 73,000 in 2004 to 146,000 in 2011.
