The British government hopes to boost sales of British-made ships as many orders “flow overseas” to Spanish and Turkish shipyards.
UK maritime sector and shipbuilding industry representatives press for bolstered action on UK’s shipbuilding strategy with eight related recommendations, after assessing progress on a key strategy launched last year.
These recommendations follow a joint meeting of the Scottish Parliament’s Cross-Party Group (CPG) on Maritime and Shipbuilding and the UK Parliament’s All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Shipbuilding and Ship Repair.
The proposed changes aim to maximise opportunities for the UK shipbuilding industry, and bolster investment for innovation, research, and development.
The recommendations include greater levels of investment for innovation, research and development to strengthen the UK’s maritime supply chain, raising the threshold for UK content in new builds, and ensuring the cross-government shipbuilding pipeline maximises opportunities for the UK shipbuilding enterprise, to deliver economic benefits across the country.
The National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh, launched in March 2022, set out the Government’s vision for a productive, competitive and innovative shipbuilding sector.
It set out a 30-year shipbuilding pipeline for cross-government orders, pledged to support green shipbuilding technologies and build the UK’s skill base, and develop a Home Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee.
Paul Sweeney MSP, convener of the CPG on Maritime and Shipbuilding, warned that the UK “has a critical five-year window” of opportunity to re-establish commercial shipbuilding at scale, but this opportunity might be lost if the government fails to act urgently. He pointed out that orders from the 30 Year Cross-Government Shipbuilding Pipeline have already been lost to Spanish and Turkish shipyards.
Both Sweeney and Kevan Jones MP, chair of the APPG on Shipbuilding and Ship Repair, stressed the importance of government action on the eight recommendations. They urged government ministers to ensure clarity and certainty for the industry, particularly regarding finance, demand signals, and skills.
Chris Shirling-Rooke MBE, CEO of Maritime UK, emphasised the importance of maintaining the momentum initiated by the National Shipbuilding Strategy. He added that Maritime UK members remain “committed to working with the National Shipbuilding Office to deliver on this vision.”
“It is crucial to keep that momentum going and ensuring that the UK can chart a course for itself as a global shipbuilding hub in the coming decades,” he said.
