UK MARITIME industry leaders frequently complain that the British seem blithely unaware of how much they rely on shipping services to provide their every day needs. Many clearly think that the ports are all run down and most of what they buy in the shops has arrived by air.

Neither has the general public any idea about how much maritime services contribute to the British economy.

Changing that perception is an uphill task, and perhaps the industry should stop bothering about it. But those operating ships, running ports, or providing professional support services have every right to worry about the government’s offhand attitude towards an industry that contributes £25bn ($37.5bn) a year to GDP and supports more than 500,000 jobs.

As Lloyd’s List reports in its focus on UK Shipping published on Monday, there is considerable dismay about the fundamental lack of understanding at government level.

Chamber of Shipping and Maritime UK president Jesper Kjaedegaard has started to use much more hard-hitting language in his efforts to get the message across that ill thought out policies are threatening to drive more business away from Britain at a time when other countries such as Singapore are keen to establish themselves as maritime centres.

Shell International’s Jan Kopernicki, who takes over as president of the chamber later this week, will be continuing with that effort while acknowledging that the industry must do more than just grumble. As he says, shipping has to produce sound economic arguments in support of its case.

That is a fair point, but those who have a choice of where their companies are based must feel comfortable about the local business environment and confident of a stable tax and regulatory regime.

Of course, the UK government has had far more pressing matters to contend with of late than the concerns of the maritime industry, but as our report shows, even the most loyal supporters are having their patience tested.

What British shipping needs from Whitehall is some joined-up thinking, just as the industry itself finally realised that it has to work together to get the best out of government.