UK Shipping Minister, Mike Penning MP, met with the All-Party Parliamentary Maritime and Ports Group this week, to give the industry an update in terms of the government’s maritime strategy going forward.
“For too many years, the UK shipping industry has not been taken seriously”, he said. “But the fact of the matter is, this country won’t get out of the economic crisis without it.”
So how does the shipping minister aim to help support the maritime industry? “By encouraging the use of smaller ports and improving infrastructure to take more boxes”, is one way.
Sounds simple doesn’t it, but it’s actually a logistical nightmare – but as one attendee said to The Motorship: “Entirely possible if every aspect of the industry works together – it works in other countries.”
But the focus wasn’t just on ports. The gritty issue of Marpol Annex VI reared its head and the 2015 sulphur reduction targets in Sulphur Emission Control Areas (ECAs) was also a hot topic.
Mr Penning gave a progress report on the Government’s efforts to minimise the economic impact on the cruise and ferry sectors and the industry as a whole. He assured delegates that the government was talking to IMO and were aware that pricing looks set to go through the roof because of fuel supply – “We need support in place”, he said.
Source: Motor Ship