Tag: Brexit

In view of the European Council deciding this week on whether the Brexit negotiations can enter the next phase, European shipowners called for rapid and positive progress to be made towards an EU/UK agreement, to secure both EU's and Britain's economic benefits.

The UK’s shipping industry is battling a significant decline in seafarer numbers and there is danger of that figure shrinking even further without intervention, especially in the post -Brexit environment, according to Nautilus International.

The North P&I Club, the Standard P&I Club and Sunderland Marine have been developing contingency plans, considering Dublin for the establishment of a subsidiary after Brexit. In addition, other P&I Clubs are exploring Luxembourg and Cuprys as new locations to ensure access to EU markets.

In the context of Budget Statement the British Ports Association is calling on the Chancellor to give priority to transport infrastructure spending and to ensure that port connectivity schemes are not overlooked.

The British Ports Association’s Scottish Ports Group has called on policy makers to ensure that ports are at the forefront of key Scottish economic, transport and planning strategies, as the UK moves towards Brexit.

British Ports Association’s roll-on roll-off ferry port operators had a meeting with the junior Department for Exiting the EU, Minister Robin Walker MP, to discuss the implications that may occur when the UK leaves the EU.

David Dingle CBE, Chairman of Maritime UK, underlined that failure to secure a deal will not only see delays and disruption at ports like Dover, Holyhead and Portsmouth, but also in the EU at ports like Zeebrugge, Calais and Dublin.

UK maritime sector reports strong growth with an increase of 12.7% in turnover, 6.6% in GVA and 3.9% in employment over a five-year period, according to a recent report for Maritime UK. The report also shows that the sector contributes nearly £40 billion to the UK economy.

The UK government is working to double the size of the UK Ship Register, from 16 to 30 million gross tonnage, as Brexit formed a new structure to UK and EU relations. The country aims to be included into the top 10 global maritime nations.  

The UK Department for Transport has published its Annual UK Port Freight statistics, which shows that overall total freight tonnages handled by UK ports declined by 3% in 2016. Despite this, there has been growth in unitised traffics and trade with European countries.