National Maritime

The EU and UK agree on fishing opportunities for 2025 worth €1.4 billion for EU fishers On 6 December, the EU and the United Kingdom reached an agreement on fishing opportunities for 2025 for more than 88 total allowable catches (TACs) in the North-East Atlantic. The agreement will contribute to the sustainable management of fish stocks jointly managed by the EU and the UK, as well as provide stability and predictability for fleets and operators from both parties. This deal secures fishing opportunities for the EU fleet for about 428,000 tonnes, estimated to be worth almost €1.4 billion based on historic EU wholesale prices, adjusted for inflation. This agreement is important as the negotiated stocks represent most of the EU’s stocks of interest in non-EU countries of the North-East Atlantic. These are the fifth annual consultations on fishing opportunities between the EU and UK agreed under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). They establish total allowable catch limits (TACs) for shared stocks in 2025, and reciprocal access to waters for albacore tuna fishing. The EU based its negotiating position on the EU common fisheries policy (CFP), including sea-basin related multiannual plans. The EU and the UK conducted these negotiations guided by the best available scientific advice on the status of fish stocks. Socio-economic considerations were also taken into account to avoid choke situations that would lead to a premature closure of certain fisheries. #coastalcommunities #ISeaSMEs #maritimeconnection #socsea Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs https://lnkd.in/eF8SuU9j

Ørsted makes multi million-pound investment into UK suppliers for its Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm Renewable energy company Ørsted announces contracts collectively worth £75 - £100m with UK companies. Severfield, headquartered in York, is the largest steel fabricator in the UK but this is their first contract on an offshore renewables energy project, marking an important step in their journey into the sector. Severfield will work with their strategic key contractor Hutchinson Engineering Services Ltd in Widnes, site of the recent Great British Energy launch, and will undertake final assembly of key components at the Teesworks Port in Teesside. Smulders is a leading steel fabricator in the offshore wind industry, and since 2016, has operated the UK based facility in Wallsend (Newcastle). Severfield and Smulders will supply a large proportion of secondary structures for Hornsea 3’s foundations from the UK. This includes the Suspended Internal Platforms or SIPs, key internal parts of the foundations on which the wind turbines sit. In addition they’ll build the boat landings where smaller vessels will arrive, allowing technicians to directly access the turbine foundation. They’ll also provide anode cages, which protect the steel-made foundation structure from corrosion. North East England-based JDR Cable Systems won the Array Cable Testing and Termination contract. JDR will prepare and connect the cables between the turbines and offshore convertor stations and then using their state of the art testing system will ensure that all array cabling is fully integrated into the offshore electrical infrastructure and working safely. The work on Hornsea 3 will help support more than 300 jobs across the three partners. #maritimeconnection #offshorewind #engineering #ISeaSMEs #socsea https://lnkd.in/eKtiFHXz

Navantia close to £70m purchase of stricken ship builder Harland & Wolff A rescue deal for the Belfast-based shipbuilder, could be announced as early as tomorrow (Thursday 19th Dec 2024), is expected to include job guarantees for its workforce of more than 1,000 people. Sky News has learnt that ministers hope to announce that H&W and its four UK shipyards are being acquired by Navantia, S.A., S.M.E, the Spanish shipbuilder, after months of negotiations. Navantia's board is expected to meet to ratify the deal in the next couple of days. Whitehall sources cautioned that an agreement could still slip but said it would be formally unveiled before Christmas. Under the deal, Navantia will take over all of H&W's sites, following its parent company's collapse into administration during the autumn. The Spanish group is expected to pay about £70m for H&W's assets, while also benefiting from improved terms on a government contract to build three Fleet Solid Support vessels for the Royal Navy. In return, it is understood to have agreed to provide guarantees that it will retain H&W's existing workforce for a specific period, the length of which was unclear on Tuesday. https://lnkd.in/ep4Zd8CG #ISeaSMEs #maritimeconnection #socsea #shipbuilding National Shipbuilding Office

"If you can build a boat, by default you can build a wardrobe: if you can build a wardrobe, you can't, by default, build a boat" At a time when we need more people in the sector because we need a far greater diversity of skills and when boat building is listed as an endangered craft, it is with huge sadness to learn that the International Boatbuilding Training College (IBTC) one of only two remaining specialist colleges in the UK is to close, an organisation with whom National Maritime have supported for many years. Boatbuilding entails a wide mix of skills - woodworking; metalworking; electrical skills; understanding engines and their installation/maintenance; drawing up plans; fibreglass working etc - at high but achievable levels. Crucially these skills are transferable as evidenced by many boat-builders who have a career mix of building boats and doing high-value other work such as kitchens, joinery, and specialised panelling to customise fibre-glass boats. Also working with big timbers makes boat-builders very good at working with Victorian and earlier roof structures. It is one of the key skills that can help get young people enthused about a career in maritime and put local people at the heart of their coastal community and economic opportunities, whilst giving industry what it needs. The directors’ Lyn and Mike Tupper have been running the Company for the last 9 years and have invested heavily in the business to support it in a difficult market due to less wooden boat building. Over the years the Tupper's’ have tried every avenue to seek support and have been thwarted at every turn. Yet nine maritime clusters across the UK recently received a share of £1 million government funding to help them deliver skills, training and educational programmes to revitalise coastal towns and cities as part of a Maritime UK regional cluster initiative, that has continually failed to provide any real evidence of job creation and economic growth since it was first funded in 2019. The loss of IBTC will be felt across the whole maritime sector and I would like to extend my sympathy to staff and students at this difficult time. #maritimeconnection #skills #ISeaSMEs Department for Transport (DfT), United Kingdom https://www.ibtc.co.uk/

Confirmation Australia to fit British sonar to new frigates The UK government has confirmed that Australia will equip its Hunter-class frigates with the Thales 2087 sonar system, a move set to contribute around £45 million to the UK economy, according to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The Sonar 2087, manufactured in the United Kingdom by Thales Underwater Systems, is a towed array sonar system that replaces the older Sonar 2031 in the Royal Navy. It equips a number of Type 23 frigates and is also set to feature on the Royal Navy’s new Type 26 frigates currently under production. A low-frequency active sonar (LFAS) system, the 2087 consists of both active and passive sonar arrays. Thales describes the Sonar 2087 as a system that enables “frigates to hunt the latest submarines at considerable distances and locate them beyond the range at which they [submarines] can launch an attack”. #maritimeconnection #ISeaSMEs #export Royal Navy https://lnkd.in/eYyEEGeN

Season’s greetings and warm wishes from everyone at National Maritime Our sincere thanks go out to all of our partners and stakeholders this year. We look forward to continuing our successful collaborations more in the future—best wishes for a happy and prosperous new year. #ISeaSMEs #socsea #maritimeconnection Photograph credit The Edinburgh Reporter Thanks to St James Quarter #stylishsanta

Freeport East and greenCrowd join forces to drive sustainable innovation and capital funding for SMEs Freeport East and greenCrowd Partnership LLP have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to foster sustainable innovation and support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to access capital for growth. This collaboration will leverage the Greencrowd Impact Fund (GIF), a platform initiative to bridge financing gaps for SMEs developing cutting-edge solutions in renewable energy, carbon reduction, and other critical sustainability sectors. The fund’s anticipated launch, planned for 2025, is contingent on obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals. The MOU establishes a framework for partnership between Freeport East, a leading hub for clean growth, and greenCrowd, an advisory firm committed to driving sustainable impact. Together, they aim to advance the UK’s net-zero goals by unlocking liquidity and providing tailored support for SMEs. https://lnkd.in/eGZviggU #socsea24 #funding #ISeaSMEs #maritime #sustainable

Forth Ports announces £50 million investment in Leith having secured gamechanger contract with Inch Cape Forth Ports Limited, the UK’s third largest port operator has announced a £50 million private investment in infrastructure at the Port of Leith having secured its largest ever offshore wind contract, the delivery of the 1.1 gigawatt (GW) Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm. This latest investment in infrastructure at the Port of Leith will enhance the port’s marine access, infrastructure and vessel assets and includes plant and equipment that will be used to deliver Inch Cape. It will also create up to 50 new and upskilled green energy jobs to support the project. Forth Ports’ agreement with Inch Cape, to be sited off the Angus coast, will utilise the port operator’s bespoke facilities and expertise at newly created renewable energy hubs at both the Port of Leith and Port of Dundee. #ports #offshore #ISeaSMEs #maritimeconnection #socsea #offshorewind https://lnkd.in/eG32i87C

Legal hands pilot launch of green shipping deal Advisers help navigate the competition and antitrust concerns for association promoting low-carbon marine fuels When ships operated by Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd AG set off from Rotterdam en route for east Asia next year, they will outwardly look no different from the scores of other giant vessels that leave Europe’s busiest port every day. But many will be pumping out markedly different emissions, thanks to a ground-breaking initiative facilitated by a leading US corporate law firm. The vessels will run on biomethane, a fuel produced from organic waste, like manure, that contributes at least 90 per cent less carbon than conventional marine fuels to the atmosphere’s carbon cycle. The extra cost of using the innovative fuel will be borne by the Zero Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance (ZEMBA), a group formed last year by ecommerce retailer Amazon, clothing brand Patagonia and German coffee shop and retail brand Tchibo. Another 29 mostly consumer goods companies are also now participating. The group was established to accelerate shipping lines’ adoption of new, lower-carbon alternatives to heavy fuel oil, which has traditionally powered vast container ships like those operated by Hapag-Lloyd. https://lnkd.in/ebEH-sw8 #energy #fuel #shipping #sustainable #ISeaSMEs #maritimeconnection

Mexico to spend $1.6bn on port expansions Mexico’s new president Claudia Sheinbaum said her government will spend $1.6bn expanding six seaports to promote industrial growth. On the Pacific Coast, the ports of Manzanillo, Ensenada, Lázaro Cárdenas, and Acapulco de Juárez will get a makeover. Veracruz and Progreso on the Atlantic side will be upgraded. Manzanillo, Mexico’s largest, will get the biggest overhaul. Between now and 2029, $671m will be spent building two fuel terminals, four container terminals and a dedicated dock for large fishing vessels. A customs precinct with the capacity to attend to 10 million shipping containers a year will also be added. At Progreso, a $357m project will develop an 80ha area with a new shipyard and a range of terminals, including ones for LNG and petroleum. A $393m project at Lázaro Cárdenas will double annual container handling capacity from 4 million to 8.2 million. #ports #exports #ISeaSMEs #construction #shipping https://lnkd.in/eUXXxcKa