Society of Maritime Industries (SMI) - Experts & Thought Leaders

As the curtains fall on Europort 2023, memories linger of an event that saw stakeholders from across the maritime world connect on the key themes of energy transition and digitalisation, as well as the human capital and finance needed to support them. Europort 2023 Europort has drawn to a close after four busy days of conferences, networking, and awards ceremonies that also saw a series of new and innovative products introduced to the maritime and offshore markets. In 2023, 24,470 visitors and 1,051 exhibitors from 107 countries converged on Rotterdam, Europe’s maritime capital, for the 41st edition of Europort. Opening summit The opening keynote speech and visual presentation were crafted entirely by AI Proceedings got underway on Tuesday, 7 November with a provocative Opening Summit exploring artificial intelligence in the maritime industry. With the audience surprised to learn that the opening keynote speech and visual presentation had been crafted entirely by AI, the session set the tone for a week in which technology was a prominent theme. Evolve 6EL23 engine, Methanol Superstorage On day two, 8 November, Anglo Belgian Corporation (ABC) unveiled its innovative Evolve 6EL23 engine – a multi-fuel, six-cylinder engine that “embraces the future of engine technology” to help ABC customers tackle their energy-transition challenges. In another energy transition-related product launch on the following day, SRC Group showcased its ‘Methanol Superstorage’ solution that overcomes the storage issues typically associated with the use of methanol as a marine fuel. Methanol as a marine fuel We officially launched Methanol Superstorage to support the adoption and deployment of methanol “At Europort 2023, we officially launched Methanol Superstorage, a ground-breaking solution to support the adoption and deployment of methanol as a marine fuel,” commented Hannes Lilp, CEO, of SRC Group.  “This aligned perfectly with Europort’s key theme of energy transition, and we were delighted with the level of interest from visitors throughout the week.” Sustainable shipping Europort’s coverage of sustainable shipping was a recurring topic among attendees, with Marcel Wandel, Aftermarkets Sales Manager, Global Customer Support, Kongsberg Maritime which won the SMART4SEA Europort Autonomous Shipping Award on 9 November commenting, “Our strapline of ‘Protecting People and Planet’ is well represented at Europort given the event’s emphasis on sustainability." "Europort is also the most important event for the Benelux market and, in line with our role of developing technological solutions in maritime, has been very good for us so far.” The Netherlands is a key link  Europort connects us with all kinds of partners given the presence of ship owners, yards, and technology companies" Guido Garufi, Business Development Manager Benelux, RINA, said, “With our focus on sustainability, not only for the ship but for the entire infrastructure in maritime, Europort connects us with all kinds of partners given the presence of ship owners, yards, and technology companies." "The Netherlands is also key for us as a link between the Baltic Sea countries, the northern Mediterranean, and Türkiye.” Significance to the UK supply chain Another aspect of Europort 2023 that received praise from attendees was its international reach. Helen Stephen, Director, of the Society of Maritime Industries (SMI), commented, “Europort is a key event for SMI as a showcase for UK marine-engineering capabilities to an international audience." "With its special significance to the UK supply chain, the Dutch market is also important for our association and member companies.” Turkish and Dutch clusters Europort is not just an exhibition but a connection point for all those involved in the sector" Mehtap Karahallı Özdemir, Secretary General, GİSBİR – the Turkish Shipbuilders’ Association discussed the close links between the Turkish and Dutch maritime clusters, describing Europort as an “excellent platform” for bringing diverse stakeholders together. “The size of our participation is growing each time, and this year, more than 40 Turkish companies are exhibiting at the show,” she added. “Europort is not just an exhibition but a connection point for all those involved in the sector, and we have been delighted to participate in the wider programme for the week.” Bawat Damen The international makeup of Europort’s exhibitor list provided fertile ground for collaboration and innovation. On 9 November, Dutch company Damen Green Solutions and Swedish-headquartered Bawat Water Technologies signed a formal agreement to solidify their joint venture, ‘Bawat Damen’, in the development and sales of cutting-edge mobile ballast water treatment systems. CAREER4SEA Europort Awards On 10 November, the successful 41st edition of Europort came to a close following events including the Connecting Next-gen Professionals to Maritime Finance debate, the human capital-themed CAREER4SEA Europort Awards, and the Fisheries Innovation Network (FIN) first-anniversary session. The FIN event, which saw a visit from Piet Adema, Dutch Minister of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality, explored the sustainable practices and new technologies shaping the future of fishing. Organisers at Europort will soon turn their attention to Europort 2025, which takes place from 2 to 5 November at Rotterdam Ahoy.

Maritime UK, the umbrella organisation for the UK’s maritime sector, has appointed Robin Mortimer as its new Chair and Tom Boardley as Vice Chair. Robin Mortimer was nominated by the British Ports Association and UK Major Ports Group, while Tom Boardley was nominated by the UK Chamber of Shipping. New Chair and Vice Chair appointed Maritime UK will be working closely with the UK government on its refresh to the Clean Maritime Plan Currently serving as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the Port of London Authority, Robin Mortimer was previously Vice Chair and replaced Sarah Kenny, who served as Chair from 2021. Robin Mortimer started his term on 1 January 2023 and will be working with members to help steer the sector through the next two years, with its response to climate change top of the agenda. Maritime UK will be working closely with the UK government on its refresh to the Clean Maritime Plan, due to be published in 2023. Maritime UK’s current priorities Maritime UK’s current priorities are the environment, people, regional growth, competitiveness and innovation and works to bring coherence to the sector’s tasks of government on these shared priorities, as well as delivering programmes and initiatives to help move the dial within each area. Programmes include the Diversity in Maritime programme, careers and outreach programme and Regional Cluster Development programme. Greater understanding of the maritime sector within the UK Commenting on his appointment, Robin Mortimer said “I am honoured to be taking the Chair of Maritime UK and to be given the opportunity to serve the UK's maritime industries at such a crucial time. There is now a much greater appreciation and understanding of the maritime sector within the UK, and how we can support major national missions like, decarbonisation, levelling up and becoming a research and development powerhouse.” Our task over the next two years is to embed that progress, deliver a robust and tangible Clean Maritime Plan" He adds, “Our task over the next two years is to embed that progress, deliver a robust and tangible Clean Maritime Plan, increase the impact of Maritime UK’s programmes in critical areas like people and bang the drum for UK PLC across the world. All of this whilst responding to challenging headwinds caused by underlying economic conditions and geopolitics.” Accelerate the progress toward Maritime 2050 Robin Mortimer continues, “I am convinced that by working closer and closer together our sector will thrive, and I look forward to working with the member community to accelerate our progress toward Maritime 2050.” Maritime UK is the umbrella body for the maritime sector, bringing together the shipping, ports, services, engineering and leisure marine industries. Its purpose is to champion and enable a thriving maritime sector. Maritime UK has responsibility for the coordination and delivery of industry recommendations within Maritime 2050. Maritime UK members Its members are Belfast Maritime Consortium, British Marine, British Ports Association, CLIA UK & Ireland, Connected Places Catapult, Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, Maritime London, Maritime UK South West, Mersey Maritime, Nautilus International, Port Skills and Safety, Shipping Innovation, Society of Maritime Industries, Solent LEP, The Baltic Exchange, The Seafarers' Charity, The Workboat Association, Trinity House, UK Chamber of Shipping and the UK Major Ports Group.

As plans emerge that Maritime UK (MUK) is to support several potential stakeholders to establish a South East regional cluster organisation reportedly led by Dieter Jaenicke, Viking Maritime Group, they do welcome the continued emergence of MUK as a single leadership association for the maritime sector, as it strives to act as a conduit for bringing coherent sector support and reduced bureaucracy to add weight to arguments for infrastructure improvements and destination making, to stimulate economic growth. As the CEO of the UKs largest SME Maritime network - National Maritime, based in the South East, along with 63% of the partnership, they see this as another positive and important positive step to removing the complexity, cost and confusion of the existing UK maritime trade association structure, to provide better support for the sector businesses and to make substantial savings for UK government. Maritime trade associations This move supports their long-advocated call to reduce the number of maritime trade association This move supports their long-advocated call to reduce the number of maritime trade association bodies in the UK to 3 or less, since Maritime UK were first appointed by Government to do their bidding! After all, let’s not forget trade association membership is a business cost just like any other. Each is evaluated to see if it has a unique value and if the association has a measurable legislative impact. What they are seeing today is an ever-increasing duplication of services and benefits from maritime trade associations, which no longer offer sufficient value for the sector or their members. As borne out in the work of the recent National Shipbuilding Strategy refresh, the National Shipbuilding Office has largely been influenced by a selected few large maritime businesses who are powerfully bound together by common economic interests and a shared set of mentalities. Coincidentally, the same organisations that are the primary funders of MUK & Society of Maritime Industries (SMI). Existing maritime organisations The refreshed strategy failed to fully represent the position of 99.8 percent of all businesses in the UK, which of course are SMEs, as these existing maritime organisations simply do not have access to market intelligence or understand the breadth, diversity & capabilities of the UK SME maritime supply chain and so inadvertently, continue to blind-side government departments as to what is possible. The MUK cluster initiative launched in 2019 by Mersey Maritime Ltd, for a reputed £450k franchise fee per region, which was to create 25,000 jobs, would appear to suggest that they are trying to improve the flow of information but with no real progress in this area, especially around the much lauded jobs target, it is apparent the majority of UK maritime SMEs are missing out.