Will the Chancellor waive the fiscal rules for UK shipping? ‣ WorldCargo News

The UK Chamber of Shipping proposes a £ 700m investment in the Budget to help achieve net zero by 2050 and make the UK a clean shipping hub.

The UK Chamber of Shipping, the trade association for the maritime industry, has outlined a roadmap for UK shipping to reach net zero by 2050, with a proposed £ 700m (US$ 910m) investment in the upcoming UK government Budget to help make the UK a hub for clean shipping.

Key to this plan is cooperation between the industry and government to update the 2019 Clean Maritime Plan, to guide emission reduction efforts. The Chamber has made several recommendations to the UK government, highlighting areas where public investment can unlock significant private funding. However, those funds may not be foremost in the chancellor’s balance sheet, this time around.

Decarbonisation package

The headline bid is for £ 343m (US$ 449m) over five years to help reduce emissions through a bespoke decarbonisation programme. That programme was first announced in 2022.

The Chamber says it has played a crucial role in helping fund research and development of technology that will help the sector reduce its carbon emissions. Previous funding has helped unlock over £66 million in extra investment.

The next big-ticket item is a £ 200m (US$ 262m) ask for funds to be allocated from the £1.8bn pledged to fund port infrastructure. The Chamber says this would deliver ten projects to design, build and operate a network of ‘shore power’ systems at UK ports.

The other asks are no less ambitious. They amount to £ 150m of investment over the next five years in projects as diverse as ferry service support and training the next generation of British seafarers.

Are the Budget asks high and dry?

However, whether or not that £700m plea is answered affirmatively, is another matter. The UK transport secretary, Louise Haigh, addressed this month’s Chamber conference in London, warmly praising the sector.

However, Haigh is just one of a queue of senior ministers who are knocking on the door of the Chancellor, ahead of the forthcoming budget speech.

Haigh’s parliamentary colleague, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, has warned that her first full budget, to be delivered on 30 October, will be very much about tightening belts, not loosening purse strings.

Rhett Hatcher, the UK Chamber of Shipping’s CEO, emphasised that the asks, while ostensibly flagged as net-zero initiatives, were vital to the industry overall.

“A long term plan is an important first step but this must be matched by delivering the infrastructure we need as is already happening in other locations,” he said. “This includes delivering on the required infrastructure, including a shore power revolution, to help attract green shipping to the UK, benefitting not just maritime communities but the entire maritime supply chain.”