Mersey Maritime News

A £25 million maritime center of excellence development project has been proposed to focus on innovation, engineering, R&D, entrepreneurship and training within the heart of Wirral Waters in the U.K.Peel L&P has formally submitted a planning application to Wirral Council to build the proposed Maritime Knowledge Hub, which would provide a high-level industrial and maritime facility, supporting the region’s £5 billion maritime ecosystem where research and innovation will focus on areas such as decarbonization of the maritime industry as well as technology transfer from other industries.

Setting out to increase fairness, equality and inclusion within the maritime sector, Maritime UK has established a Women in Maritime Taskforce, a move welcomed by the U.K.’s new Maritime Minister, Nusrat Ghani MP. “I am delighted to see Maritime UK taking action to attract more women into our maritime industries, and I welcome this taskforce as an important first step,” said Ghani, who is only the second woman to hold the Department for Transport portfolio for the U.K.’s £40 billion maritime sector.

The finalists of the 2017 Mersey Maritime Industry Awards (MMIAs) have been announced. The winners will be revealed at a prestigious black tie dinner that will have a Ministerial presence and promises to bring together the best of the maritime industry right across the Maritime, Logistics and Energy spectrum in the region. The MMIAs are organised by sector representative body Mersey Maritime and the Awards recognise the excellence and diversity that exists across all sectors of the maritime industry in the North West. Chris Shirling-Rooke, Chief Executive, Mersey Maritime, said: “The number and quality of entries for the 2017 MMIAs has risen for the third consecutive year, which will make for an exciting awards evening when the winners are announced on 9th March.

UK Industry trade body Mersey Maritime has announced a new trade agreement with the Isle of Man Shipping Association (IOMSA) which aims to supercharge bilateral trade, particularly among small to medium sized businesses. The agreement was announced at a special reception during the International Festival of Business in Liverpool UK and has resulted from a series of discussions facilitated by the Isle of Man Ship Registry, which is an Executive Club member of Mersey Maritime, and other IoM based companies such as software engineer PDMS, both of which are also involved with IOMSA.

Business owners across the U.K. wanting to drive growth in the maritime sector are being urged to engage with the newly opened Maritime Knowledge Hub in Birkenhead, Liverpool City Region. The hub, based near Cammell Laird shipyard, is celebrating the formal completion of its recent fit-out and is now planning a busy agenda of events, seminars, training and networking. The completion of Phase 1 of the Maritime Knowledge Hub is a joint venture between Mersey Maritime, Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) and Wirral Council on behalf of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. The fit-out was completed by Wirral based Beech Group, which specializes in demolition, but have a refurbishment division.

Peel Ports has been recognised for its commitment to environmental stewardship in the delivery of its Manchester Ship Canal project by the prestigious and historic Carmen Awards. The awards, which honour exceptional achievement in industry and individual enterprise, praised the business’ revival of the historic trade route and Victorian engineering masterpiece to build a sustainable platform for modern day growth in the North West. Previous winners include the Highways Agency for the Hindhead Tunnel project and The Mayor of London’s Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme. While the awards reserved particular praise for the Manchester Ship Canal project…

UK Shipping Minister Robert Goodwill MP has formally opened a new ‘Maritime Knowledge Hub’ in Wirral, UK, jointly operated by Mersey Maritime and Liverpool John Moores University. Operated jointly by sector development organisation Mersey Maritime and Liverpool John Moores University , the new facility will be a global centre of excellence within the UK, generating knowledge-led growth and innovation. First announced at London International Shipping Week (LISW) last year, the aim of the £15m ($21m) Maritime Knowledge Hub is to create a regional focal point for innovation, research & development, education and training and business support, enabling the UK to capture a greater share in the estimated £3000bn shipping market.

U.K. Shipping Minister Robert Goodwill MP has welcomed the investment being made by Peel Ports during a March 10 visit to the company’s Liverpool2 container terminal. Upon opening later this year, Liverpool2 will become one of Europe’s most modern and advanced semi-automated terminals, able to accommodate virtually all of the world’s deep sea container vessels. Marine trials are due to begin later this month, with other elements of the build coming online throughout Q2. The Liverpool2…

In response to popular demand, Mersey Maritime has expanded the eligibility of its annual awards to include maritime companies and related organisations right across the Maritime, Logistics and Energy spectrum in the whole of the North West and the Isle of Man. Chris Shirling-Rooke, CEO of Mersey Maritime, said: “Last year’s inaugural event was so popular that we have been inundated with businesses wanting to get involved. Taking the time to enter one or more of our 10 award categories certainly pays off, as two non-finalists last year won lucrative contracts on the strength of their entries. “The judging panel is made up of leading industry figures from our main sponsors and all entries are evaluated, with the various merits of each debated by these eminent people.

Terry Weston has been confirmed as Chief Executive of Maritime and Engineering College North West (MECNW) following the retirement of his predecessor, Jim Teasdale, at the end of September. Jim Teasdale was a founder director and chief executive of Birkenhead-based Maritime and Engineering College North West (MECNW), a charitable foundation set up under his leadership in 1998 to provide apprenticeship training in vocational skills with a particular focus on engineering and marine engineering. Under his direction, the college merged with industry representative body Mersey Maritime - also led by Mr Teasdale – in 2007, bringing together the complementary strengths of each organisation under the newly-formed Mersey Maritime Group umbrella.

The world’s oldest enclosed commercial wet dock in Liverpool, North-west England is celebrating its 300th anniversary. Known locally as the ‘old dock’, it opened for business on 31 August 1715, providing a blueprint for the development of other trading ports. For the first time in history, the design of the dock allowed ships to load and unload whatever the state of the tide. It helped Liverpool to become one of the globe’s most important ports, with ships being able to turn around in under two days, rather than the two weeks needed previously. Thanks to the ‘old dock’, by the end of the 19th century 9% of the world’s trade went through Liverpool.

Mersey Maritime, in association with some of its key members, is hosting what will be one of the most exciting events at London International Shipping Week (LISW15) on 9th September at The Walkie Talkie Building, 20 Fenchurch Street. Senior Liverpool Football Club (LFC) members will be present at this invitation only reception designed to showcase the amazing opportunities that exist for doing business with one of the Worlds’ most iconic port cities. LFC will also be bringing the European Cup which the club won outright after winning the competition for the fifth time in 2005. Mersey Maritime, together with key partners Peel Group and Liverpool John Moores University will make a major announcement during the course of the evening.

A shipbuilder is celebrating its 40th anniversary by staging an open day to coincide with the International Festival of Business Mersey Maritime and Shipping Innovation event. MCTAYS, the shipbuilding subsidiary of HS Ocean Holdings (HSOH) is hosting the open day on Friday 13th June at its yard in Birkenhead on the banks of the River Mersey. Peter Breslin, Managing Director of MCTAYS, said the open day will provide an opportunity for customers and suppliers to see the shipyard’s extensive facilities and learn more about the services it provides.

Liverpool-based maritime advisory firm and consultancy Focus Maritime (North West) Limited has been appointed to promote Canada's Halifax Port Authority across Europe. The move by the Nova Scotia-based authority is aimed at strengthening its presence across the continent and sees Liverpool-based Graham Fraser take on the role of director, business development and growth - Europe. Strategically located as North America's first inbound and last outbound gateway, the Port of Halifax is a deep, wide, ice-free harbor.

The next generation of engineering and maritime stars was recognized at the annual Maritime and Engineering College North West (MECNW) Apprenticeship Awards. The ceremony on November 14, held at MECNW in Birkenhead, celebrated the achievements of learners across 11 different award categories which were presented by former Liverpool FC and England player and coach Sammy Lee. George Day, from Peel Ports, was named overall Apprentice of the Year and also Peel Apprentice of the Year.

Liverpool Cruise Terminal said it will break its previous record next year with 52 cruise ships scheduled to call, bringing 70,000 visitors to the city. Among the cruise liners making their Mersey debut in 2014 will be the new MS Europa 2, Ruby Princess and MSC Magnifica. The high points of Liverpool Cruise Terminal’s fast-growing popularity were revealed at a conference organized by the Mersey Maritime Group trade body. During the cruise terminal’s first full season of operation in 2008 there were just 13 calls, rising to 42 calls last year.

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The UK's first full active escort tug simulator is to be installed on Merseyside. The Polaris(tm) System, manufactured by Kongsberg Maritime Ship Systems AS, allows tug captains to learn how to escort large ships in a completely safe, simulated environment. The escort tug simulator-training facility is an enhancement of the 360* ship's bridge simulator at Birkenhead-based Lairdside Maritime Centre, which is the only one of its kind in the UK. It is expected to be fully in service by November. The £50,000 project has been jointly funded by Shell UK Ltd, Svitzer Marine and Wirral Waterfront, a single Regeneration Budget Initiative funded by the North West Development Agency.

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Mersey Maritime is bidding for the first-ever international maritime conference to be held in Liverpool, which wil coincide with the Mersey River Festival in 2004 or 2005. The announcement was made as this year's Mersey River Festival gets underway with the arrival of the Tall Ships into the port of Liverpool and Capital of Culture plans are unveiled for a new £10.5 million cruise liner terminal to be in place by 2005. Mersey Maritime, the new organization, plans to create a two-day conference, trade fair and exhibition and dinner, aimed at creating an international focus on the region's maritime sector and it's contribution to regeneration. Negotiations are currently underway with a number of international maritime conference specialists.

Mersey Maritime has appointed David Pendleton as the new business development director and a financial controller. He will be responsible for promoting and developing the Mersey Maritime cluster. He will provide a single point of contact for all the cluster members and work extensively with local councils to ensure the future growth of the Merseyside maritime community. "I am delighted to be joining Mersey Maritime. future. company, Corning. controller. manager for Atlantic Container Line (ACL). financial viability of the company. respectively. alongside project and administration manager, Paula Deboo. Institute of Marketing.