Highlighting the economic value of the maritime sector

The Maritime Economics Study Group

The Maritime Economics Study Group is a partnership between Greenwich University, the Maritime Institute faculty and The Maritime Foundation. Its purpose is to compare the current economic performance of shipping and shipping services with the findings of the Foundation’s 1989 ‘Critical Levels’ study.

The Group will also compare UK’s shipping performance with that of similarly placed maritime nations, to identify and explain any differences.

Other topics to be examined include the economic benefits of the Royal Navy and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, the British contribution to the balance of maritime investment overseas, and the number of people and the qualifications needed to fulfil technical and specialist roles within the sector. Findings will be presented to The Greenwich Forum, a voluntary group of senior executives, naval personnel and civil servants, in an open symposium.

Because British governments have been reluctant to support maritime infrastructural development, the Foundation will be testing the hypothesis that maritime industries lose out to land-based industries because of a lack of political support. The maritime sector, merchant and naval, is suffering badly under the present economic restraints, and ignorance of the potential of sea-based economic activity adds to the problem.

This is not only a matter of shipping and fishing, but also of shore-based services, ports, shipbuilding and repair, aquaculture, offshore energy, trade, oceanography, marine biology, consultancy, design, equipment manufacture, and all that is associated with yachting and marine leisure activities, as well as tourism, museums, heritage, defence systems, maritime security, law, finance, safety, search and rescue, training, education and research. Redefining the UK’s maritime legacy for the twenty-first century is the aim of the Maritime Economics Study Group.