The UK's second largest ports operator, Peel Ports Group is working with a consortium led by the University of Liverpool to bid for the UK’s flagship national Clean Maritime Research Hub.

As part of a wider partnership with the University of Liverpool’s School of Management, Peel Ports has committed to participating in workshops, sharing operational port data and insights and allocating staff time to the project.

The designation is part of the government’s UK SHORE programme, which aims to decarbonise the maritime sector by exploring key challenges and barriers, and encouraging research and development opportunities.

The programme is set to provide funding grant schemes for early research projects by UK universities. If successful, the University-led project will receive a total of £7.4m of funds over the course of the next four years.

The research hub would make Liverpool the UK centre of excellence for clean maritime research and facilitate further academic and industrial cooperation.

Lewis McIntyre, Managing Director Port Services at Peel Ports said: “Peel Ports has received numerous industry accolades for its efforts in reducing its environmental impact, including this year’s prestigious Clean Maritime Operator award by Maritime UK.

“This reflects our efforts in decarbonising our port operations as a top priority, and we are delighted to support the University of Liverpool in its efforts to bid for projects of this nature, which align to our own net zero 2040 strategy.”

Professor Dongping Song from the University of Liverpool’s Management School said: ”Peel Ports’ support and participation is extremely valuable for the application to establish the hub and for the future research in decarbonising maritime industry and beyond.”

The newly created hub will address a number of issues including low and zero-emission fuels for the maritime sector, energy sources, vessel technology and land side infrastructure.

The winning bid will be announced before the end of the summer by the awarding and funding bodies; the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Department of Transport.

Maritime UK launched today its national awards programme for 2022, celebrating the shipping sector worth over £46.1bn to the UK economy and supporting over 1 million jobs.
⦁ Maritime UK Awards 2022 to be held at Glasgow Science Centre
⦁ Awards to again include government’s ‘Clean Maritime Awards’
⦁ Panel of expert judges from across industry and government
⦁ Online portal opens for entries

This will be the first time since the event took place in September 2019 and Maritime UK Awards are run by the industry for the benefit of the industry.

From a judging panel of internationally recognised maritime leaders to an awards evening at the Glasgow Science Centre, the Maritime UK Awards are a unique and impactful way to showcase individual business, and collectively, to celebrate a thriving sector, worth £46.1bn to the UK economy.

The portal for submissions has opened today.

The Maritime UK Awards are open to organisations from across the breadth of the maritime sector and its component shipping, ports, services, engineering, and leisure marine industries.

With the UK government having launched its first long-term strategy for the sector, Maritime 2050, the award categories mirror its themes. In June 2021, Maritime UK published a stocktake of progress in implementing the strategy, with demonstrable progress being made across the board. The 2022 awards will enable many of the projects being delivered in response to Maritime 2050 to be brought to national prominence.

The third Maritime UK Awards are being held at the Glasgow Science Centre, on the banks of the River Clyde, synonymous with the country's shipbuilding industry. Glasgow has been chosen as the host for the 2022 awards to build upon the sector's activity at COP26. For the second time, the Department for Transport's Clean Maritime Awards will be included in the programme.

The 2020 awards were held in Plymouth, where the winners included: STEM Returners, Actisense, Tanki, Port of Cromarty Firth, Babcock International, Princess Yachts, Solent LEP, Artemis Technologies, Port of Tyne, VIRSEC and Tapiit Live.

Maritime UK today announces the first two category sponsors as Malin Group (Innovation Award) and Nautilus International (Bevis Minter Award).

Sarah Kenny, Maritime UK Chair said: “We are hugely excited that Glasgow will host the Maritime UK Awards. We have been determined that the awards will shine a spotlight on different parts of our maritime nation, and in Glasgow and Scotland as a whole, we have an incredibly compelling maritime proposition as the UK’s second-largest cluster. It offers Europe’s largest ship management cluster, world class naval ship design, build and support, globally recognised support to offshore energy operations, world-class nautical training and maritime universities and academics.

“2021 has been a year of significant activity for the maritime sector, whether on Freeports, the National Shipbuilding Strategy, Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition, London International Shipping Week, COP26 or at October's Budget and Spending Review, where the Chancellor announced reforms to Tonnage Tax. The 2022 awards will therefore be a fantastic opportunity to showcase and celebrate the growing number of world-leading projects helping to ensure the UK's position as the most innovative, competitive, and sustainable maritime centre by the middle of this century."