During his speech the Lord Mayor explained that he was keen to use his mayoralty to capitalise on and build awareness of the role the industry plays in the life of London, the UK and Europe. He said that in the last two years London had fixed more charters, bought, sold and financed more ships, insured more vessels and settled more court and arbitration cases than any other maritime centre in the world.

But sounding a note of caution he urged the assembled guests to support his initiative to protect and build upon the maritime sector's reputation. He added that a healthy marine industry needs a constant influx of new blood and urged initiatives to encourage young people to 'return to the sea' and take up careers in the industry.

MJ Information No: 20821