United Kingdom Short Sea Shipping Bureau Shaping Up

Over recent months the ICS has organised a number of meetings with leading bodies in the UK transport industry including the Chamber of Shipping, Freight Transport Association, BIFA, Road Haulage Association and British ports’ groups, all of which have given the bureau their full support. The next step is to secure funding from the UK government. The UK is the last EU country to establish its own bureau dedicated to the promotion of short sea shipping services.

The aim of the bureau is to promote and co-ordinate efforts to encourage greater movement of goods by sea, thus removing traffic from Britain’s congested roads. This should not only reduce road congestion and pollution but help regenerate and increase vessel traffic through the UK’s smaller regional ports, benefiting the industry as a whole.

John Foord, chairman of the ICS Federation Council, said, “We can only hope that the UK government appreciates the vital role our ports play in the shipping industry and that only through the promotion and development of short sea shipping services can we ensure that the UK remains a significant port of call for international shipping in the future.”

It is proposed that the ICS will initially provide the base and secretariat for the bureau. The organisation, which was established in 1911 to represent professionals working in the shipping industry, today has more than 3,500 members in over 60 countries and offers training and education in all areas of the industry.

MJ Information No: 17521