UK government pledges £6 bn boost for UK maritime

The UK government has pledged £6 billion for shipbuilding and a stronger focus on British industry.

At the Labour Party’s conference this week, Chancellor John Healey said the government would commit £6 billion (€7 billion) of contracts for British shipyards, which will build ‘the new docks for the new submarines that will defend us all for decades to come’.

On the eve of the conference, the National Shipbuilding Office (NSO) was given oversight of future civil ship procurement, with the aim of creating ‘a clearer and more predictable pipeline of demand’ and enabling a simpler route for procuring new vessels, according to the Cabinet Office.

It means giving the NSO a central view of the civil ships that government departments are likely to need and helping coordinate future procurement. It does not mean the NSO will necessarily buy every vessel itself, but that it will have a stronger role in overseeing future civil ship procurement.

The visibility could be valuable to shipyards that rely on a much wider supply chain of marine engineers, equipment manufacturers, technology companies, systems integrators and specialist SMEs. If businesses have more confidence that government work is coming, they can make longer-term decisions about recruitment, apprenticeships, facilities, technology and research and development.

In turn, that could strengthen the UK’s maritime industrial base and create sustained opportunities beyond individual shipbuilding contracts.

“This year’s Labour Party Conference has shown a growing understanding of the strategic value of our maritime sector,” said Tom Chant, chief executive of the Society of Maritime Industries (SMI). “The stronger role for the National Shipbuilding Office, together with commitments to build strategically important vessels in British shipyards, represents a positive step towards a more coordinated and long-term approach.

“Shipbuilding is key to industrial policy. The direction of travel is encouraging, with government increasingly connecting maritime procurement to wider objectives around economic growth, national security and industrial resilience.

“A clear pipeline of work will help unlock investment in skills, facilities and technology, while creating opportunities across the wider maritime supply chain. The task now is to turn these commitments into a visible and deliverable programme of activity that gives businesses throughout the maritime enterprise the confidence to plan, invest and grow.

“We look forward to working with ministers, officials and the National Shipbuilding Office to help translate these commitments into sustained growth throughout the UK maritime enterprise.”

The government’s commitment to major UK maritime programmes could provide further opportunities. Programme Euston, which will see three floating docks support the Royal Navy’s submarine service at HM Naval Base Clyde, has the potential to sustain specialist engineering capability and generate demand across its supply chain.

Another example of the British-focused approach is the planned replacement for the research vessel RV Cefas Endeavour. The new vessel will lead a national system for monitoring the UK’s seas, including fish stocks, pollution and seabed mapping, and will use automation, robotics and artificial intelligence. The vessel will be procured through a competition open only to UK shipyards.