UK shipping gets government support, but £700m might be a stretch
The UK shipping sector has set out a detailed roadmap to help the UK become a clean shipping hub. £700m is a big number, conceded UK Chamber chief Rhett Hatcher, but it is a drop in the ocean compared to what is needed long term
The UK’s transport minister Louise Haigh is on a charm offence with the maritime sector, promising to be the industry’s champion, as she links economic growth to shipping’s decarbonised growth strategy. But she is very quiet on the industry calculations that detail £700m in government funding ahead of the forthcoming budget
THE UK transport minister Louise Haigh promised to put maritime at the heart of government, linking economic growth to shipping’s success story, as she addressed industry leaders on Tuesday.
But if delegates attending the UK Chamber of Shipping’s first major conference were anticipating any detail on the new government’s policies or funding proposals that would deliver on that pledge of support, they left disappointed.
A heavily trailed £700m list of priorities required by the UK shipping sector to the government’s net zero by 2050 goals, was notably absent from the minister’s keynote address.
And while a new clean maritime plan to replace the one not delivered by the previous government was promised “soon”, along with new measures to address seafarer rights in the wake of the P&O Ferries sacking of 786 seafarers back in March 2022, no specifics were on show as Haigh set out her stall to an industry waiting for detail.
While the UK maritime sector has been impressed by the minister’s vocal support for shipping and her repeated insistence that the UK’s “economic growth rests on maritime’s growth”, talk of funding has so far been off the table in the run up to the budget later this month.
The last spring budget slashed transport spending plans from £8.2bn this year to £5.7bn in 2024-25, and it was with that context that the UK Chamber formally set out its £700m roadmap for the sector to meet its net zero plans.
The plan, which sets out a series of recommendations to government where public investment will help unlock significant private investment, had already been presented to the government well in advance of today’s public launch.
It contains a £343m plan over five years for UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) funding, £200m for shore power projects and a £100m request for the Support for Maritime Training (SMarT) scheme.
No cash figures
Despite the advance notice that the plan was launching today, the minister’s speech contained no reference to the industry requests or future funding plans.
“It is a big number,” conceded UK Chamber chief executive Rhett Hatcher discussing the plan he insists will help the UK become a clean shipping hub.
“But this is a drop in the ocean in the total that we are going to spend on this decarbonisation journey”.
“And I think the longer we don’t invest in these things, the more they are going to cost. So yes, it’s a lot of money we are asking for here, but it comes from evidence based analysis, extrapolated, projected forward, and we’re absolutely conscious that we’re all competing for what is a finite amount of resource. But this is what is needed,” explained Hatcher.
Despite the current lack of detail to accompany the government’s support, UK industry leaders have so far reported positive meetings with the new government. The visible presence of a secretary of state making an appearance at the UK Chamber’s flagship event and a previous appearance to launch London International Shipping Week last month has played well to a crowd that has routinely been disappointed by lacklustre performances from junior ministers.
The UK shipping minister, Mike Kane, has meanwhile been busy engaging key companies and bodies on a more bi-lateral basis, albeit in “listening mode” with little detail being reported in terms of policy plans.
“We’re still only three months in to this government, there’s still quite a lot of thinking going on,” said Hatcher.
Beyond the budget and a response to the UK Chamber’s spending proposals, the next major anticipated waypoint for the government will be the long-delayed refresh of the UK’s Clean Maritime Plan.
Three previous shipping ministers in the last governments had worked on the plan before being voted out, so the question of whether the new government starts again or simply edits the existing draft that is understood to have been re-written several times already, is a key issue for the industry.
Plans delayed
While Haigh on Tuesday stated that a plan would be delivered “soon”, that is by now a familiar refrain from industry leaders, who had initially been told to expect details to be ready for London International Shipping Week in 2023.
The delayed refresh of the Clean Maritime Plan is significant because it should clarify UK government maritime policy, which was described last year by a highly critical parliamentary Transport Select Committee as “muddled”.
The report stated that the UK government needed to distinguish between action and aspiration, to cut through close to 200 recommendations underpinning its Maritime 2050 strategy.
The report also called for investment in new technology, cleaner fuels and workforce training — much of which is on hold while the industry awaits policy clarity from the government, which has repeatedly delayed publication of its plans.
“My pledge to you is this,” Haigh told the Chamber crowd in her brisk headline appearance.
“I will place maritime at the heart of this government’s bold plans for change, and I will work with you day in, day out to set this industry up for success. Economic growth means more shipping, not less. A growing economy needs a thriving maritime economy to sustain it a virtuous cycle, each reinforcing the other”.