Thank you to the 850 guests representing 350 companies who attended our Annual Dinner at the Grosvenor Hotel on Monday. It was wonderful to meet many of you and celebrate our achievements together, you'll be pleased to know that we were able to raise £7,500 for our Charity Member, Stella Maris. We are already looking forward to welcoming you again next year. For more information and to view pictures, read our article below.

Following the Annual Dinner, the Chamber was very busy working on the Seafarers’ Wages Bill, discussed in Parliament this week and the implementation of the UK/EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement; both can also be found below.

There are some excellent communication opportunities for our members which will help us raise awareness of women in Maritime and Maritime careers, so please take a moment to read them. 

What's new

Seafarers’ Wages Bill   

The Seafarers’ Wages Bill cleared its last major hurdle in Parliament this week. The Bill was debated for what is likely to be the final time in the House of Commons where MPs had the opportunity to amend the Bill. Debates focused on a range of issues, including reducing the threshold for being in scope of the Bill to 52 calls. The Chamber once again briefed MPs on this issue and why 120 calls remains appropriate, and our evidence was referenced during the debate by the Transport Minister. Ultimately this amendment was defeated, and 120 calls remains the threshold.

The Bill will now return to the House of Lords to agree the amendments made in the Commons, this is likely to be a formality.

You can read the debate or watch it (skip to 2:12). 

New Department for Energy Created  

This week the Prime Minister reshuffled his Cabinet and created several new government departments, including the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the Department for Business and Trade.

The impact of these changes will take a while to become apparent, but the Chamber will be engaging with officials at the earliest opportunity to understand how these new departments will interact and how responsibilities are now divided. Grant Shapps as the former Transport Secretary will already have a keen understanding of the requirements of the shipping industry to reach net zero and its importance to energy security. 

International Women's Day and National Career Week Stories Needed  

We are looking for people who work in the maritime sector and are willing to share their stories and experience in the field with us. We'll then promote them on our website and social media channels (Twitter and LinkedIn) to celebrate International Women's day and National Career Week.

For International Women's Day, we are looking for women to write a blog post of 300 words about their careers either onshore or at sea. We are also looking for one woman from either the LGBTQ community or under-represented ethnic groups to answer a few questions about her experience in the industry.

For National Career Week, we'd also like people to write a blog post of 300 words about their career either onshore or at sea. We are keen for everyone in shipping to share their experiences but especially anyone who is an apprentice or from either the LGBTQ community or under-represented ethnic groups.

If you are interested, please email the Chamber's Digital Communications Manager, Antonella Barletta
 

Annual Dinner 2023 

We held our long-awaited Annual Dinner on Monday at the Grosvenor House Hotel, joined by some 850 guests. The dinner was a great success, and our guests had the opportunity to hear from the Shipping Minister, Baroness Vere and the Chamber's President Graham Westgarth whilst networking and celebrating maritime milestones with peers.

Thank you to everyone who helped us ensure the success of this event, especially our sponsors Northern Marine (Gold Sponsor), V. Group (President's Reception), Denholm, UK Ship Register, Lloyd’s Register, ABS, Seapeak (Silver Sponsors) and Witherbys (Programme Sponsor).

You can read more about the evening's highlights and view all pictures on our webpage.
 

UK/EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement

The Chamber remains engaged in the implementation of the UK/EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA).

A meeting of the Civil Society Forum took place in October and the Joint Conclusions have now been agreed upon. They provide members with a useful overview of TCA issues.
 

ZEVI, UK Shore and EPSRC Funds

Earlier in the week, the DfT launched the ZEVI competition, which will see £77m in R&D funding allocated to UK-registered business applicants, to make the UK a global leader in clean maritime technologies. The application window has opened and will close on 19 April 2023 at 11 am, visit their page for more information.

In conjunction with the funding above, UK SHORE and the EPSRC are allocating £7.4m for a competition to establish a flagship UK national Clean Maritime Research Hub. The application window has also opened for this grant and will close on 2 May 2023, more information is on their page. 

In the coming weeks, a series of events will support organisations in preparing their bids. To book your place click the links below:

• Virtual ZEVI briefing.
• Virtual Hub Webinar. 
• In-person National Networking event for ZEVI on Thursday 9th February in London. 
• Maritime UK is running regional networking events for both ZEVI and the Hub from the w/c 20 February. 

Latest member updates

Chamber members are reminded that they have exclusive access to a range of updates from the Chamber’s policy experts on a wide spectrum of issues. The latest updates this week include:

• ICS Maritime Law Committee: Draft Terms of Reference
• Agenda notes for the Safety and Environment Committee meeting, 08 February 2023
• European Commission Implementing Decision 2022/1973: Recognition of UK Certificates of Competency
• Draft BIMCO Russian Oil Price Cap Scheme Clause
• COSWP Chapter 15 Review - Entry into Enclosed Spaces

Upcoming Events

Summer Lunch

Our summer lunch is set to take place on Tuesday 13 June 2023, in a brand new venue, the Signet Library, in Edinburgh. More information will be available on our event page. In the meantime, please save the date.