Commenting on the extension Kathryn Neilson, Director of the Merchant Navy Training Board, said;

This is a welcome, and necessary extension to the SMarT funding programme. The extension, which the MNTB, UK Chamber and others have called for, reflects the ongoing success of the scheme, which is vital to securing training and career routes for UK seafarers.

We hope to see the strategic importance of shipping to the UK, and the importance of training greater numbers of UK seafarers, reflected in the outcomes of the forthcoming Spending Review, and have called on Government to commit to preserving SMarT for the course of this parliament.

The continuation of the scheme, alongside Government support for sector led initiatives such as our Careers At Sea national awareness campaign, would unlock opportunities to create thousands more jobs in the sector, breaking down barriers to opportunity and growth and supporting the next generation of UK Seafarers.

The Government had previously announced a six-month extension to the original September 2024 deadline which guaranteed increased funding until the end of March 2025. The UK Chamber and MNTB have called for this to be continued through the course of this parliament.

£100m would ensure SMarT funding is maintained at current levels for five years to help provide a continual supply of UK based seafarers, with current estimates indicating we need to reach 2,000 cadets graduating annually up from current levels of around 600 to meet industry demand. This funding also supports inward investment and the shipping industry’s overall aggregated impact (i.e. direct, indirect and induced impacts) of Gross Value Added (GVA) to the UK economy of £17.6bn per annum. (CEBR 2022 Economic Contribution of the Shipping Industry Report).

In 2024 the industry launched a National Careers as Sea Awareness Campaign, which seeks to attract more homegrown talent into the sector in the UK. Similar schemes, in aviation and logistics, have proven highly successful examples of government and industry partnership in sectors with specific skills needs and shortages, and given the strategic importance of shipping to the UK, we have called upon Government to consider whether such funding models could be introduced for maritime.