We’re now returning to our regular email communication, after the national period of mourning preceding Her Majesty the Queen’s funeral on Monday. Before sharing our usual range of updates, I want to take a moment to thank all those from fellow Shipping Associations right across the World who wrote to express their condolences.

Queen Elizabeth II was widely loved and respected for her grace, constancy and unwavering sense of duty – you can read the Chamber’s tribute here.

Secretary of State takes on Maritime Brief

This week has seen confirmation that Transport Secretary The Right Hon Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP has chosen to retain the Maritime brief personally. This is a clear indication of the importance of the maritime sector to the Government and to the UK more widely.

It also offers a welcome opportunity to present directly to a member of Cabinet the case for how shipping can help deliver the new Prime Minister’s growth agenda, and what we need from Government to succeed. The Chamber has been in touch with the Department for Transport following the announcement and will be meeting with the Secretary of State in the near future. 

You can read our reaction to the news here. 

Safety Culture Conference

The Chamber held its annual Safety Culture Conference in Liverpool earlier this week. Over 70 delegates heard from a diverse range of speakers about the importance of embedding safety culture at every level of an organisation and how to shift the mindset from one of compliance with processes to holistic empowerment of teams.

Delegates also enjoyed the opportunity of an evening’s networking at the first in-person event since 2019. Sincere thanks to our sponsors V Group, Bureau Veritas, Shell and UK P&I.

You can read a write up of the conference on the Chamber’s website here and more details about the 2023 Conference will be available in the New Year.

Chancellor announces VAT shopping for overseas visitors

This morning as part of his mini budget the Chancellor has announced that VAT shopping will return for international visitors to the UK.

Announcing the change, the Chancellor said "Britain welcomes millions of tourists every year, and I want our high streets and airports, our ports and our shopping centres, to feel the economic benefit. So we have decided to introduce VAT-free shopping for overseas visitors."

This is a welcome boost in encouraging international travellers to visit the UK and the Chamber looks forward to working with the Government to ensure this is introduced as quickly as possible.

Seafarers Wages Bill

As reported in the previous Bulletin, the next stage of the Seafarers’ Wages Bill was delayed following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The Bill’s return is yet to be scheduled but is likely to be sometime from mid-October onwards.  Meanwhile, the Chamber has been in discussion with Peers to highlight the importance of ensuring the scope of the Bill is commensurate with fulfilling the objectives set out by the Government in March, and does not result in any unintended consequences. We will keep members informed on progress over the coming weeks.

Any member wishing to discuss the Bill in more detail should contact Policy Director Gavin Simmonds.

New strategy for cadet SMarT scheme?

Through the Maritime Skills Commission’s Cadet Training and Modernisation (CT&M) Programme, a proposal for a new strategy to both administer and monitor the success of the SMarT scheme has been developed and implemented.

The MCA recently released MIN 678 detailing the new, simplified mechanism to assist industry, increase UK Cadet numbers and improve the financial support available for UK Junior Officers to help them obtain their first Management level (unlimited) Certificate of Competency (CoC).

These proposed changes cover the period from April 2022 to September 2024 and ensure an increase in SMarT funding to 50%. Following this, a new UK funding system is scheduled to be implemented, as recommended by the 2021 Maritime Skills Commission Seafarer Cadet Training Group’s Report. 

The rate increase will be payable for all Cadets currently enrolled in the system at the 50% rate and claims can be backdated to 28th March 2022. It is expected that sponsoring companies will increase the support payments to Cadets in line with the rate increases.

For more information, see here.

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. Latest updates this week include:

• MCA Consultation - Consultation on The Merchant Shipping (Cargo and passenger ship construction and miscellaneous amendments) Regulations 2022
• Minutes of the Harbour Towage Panel - 22 June 2022

Upcoming events

Cruise Week 2022: starting today, this week’s Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Cruise Week begins (23 September - 2 October). In the cruise industry’s last full year of operations, 2m UK guests sailed, with the sector contributing £10bn to the UK economy, supporting 88,000 jobs. To learn more, visit here.

World Maritime Day: The International Maritime Organisation’s World Maritime Day takes place next week, on Thursday 29th September. The IMO’s 2022 theme is ‘New technologies for greener shipping’ and you can find out more here.

Autumn Lunch: The UK Chamber of Shipping will be hosting an Autumn Lunch in Southampton on Wednesday 2nd November at the Southampton Harbour Hotel & Spa. Kindly sponsored by V.Group, this event will provide members and non-members a chance to have a Q&A with President Graham Westgarth, and a platform to meet and network with industry peers in celebration of UK Shipping.

• 11.00 am - 11.45 am: Q&A with the Chamber President
• 11.45am - 12.15pm: Drinks Reception
• 12.15pm - 3pm: Lunch

Please book tickets via our website.

RESCHEDULED: Following the postponement because of the death of Queen Elizabeth II the Harbour Towage Panel meeting will now be held at 11.30 on Thursday 13 October 2022 at Hope Street Hotel, Liverpool. Please contact panel secretary Robert Merrylees to register your attendance.

British Tugowners Association (BTA) Annual Safety Seminar: The BTA will be holding its Annual Safety Seminar on 10 November in Edinburgh, at the premises of the Northern Lighthouse Board. We are pleased to announce that the theme of the event is recovery of persons from the water and that the Maritime Skills Academy have kindly agreed to be silver sponsors of the event. Click here to read more and secure your place

Mersey Maritime Industry Awards 2022: The theme for the Mersey Maritime Industry Awards 2022 is ‘Our Time Is Now’, which will have a particular focus on Mersey Maritime’s 20-year anniversary, and look forward to the bright future of the sector.

Now in their eighth year, the awards will take place in the iconic and prestigious Liverpool Cathedral on Thursday 10 November 2022. Further details can be viewed here.

Have a relaxing weekend,

Sarah