Department of Transport’s Maritime 2050 strategy has been welcomed by Maritime Research & Innovation UK (MarRI-UK). The Maritime sector is of fundamental importance to islands nations like the UK.  Our industry has scope to grow substantially in this global market, which the Government estimates will double to $3 trillion by 2030.

Maritime 2050 marks a very positive development in UK Government influence on maritime research and innovation outcomes. While essential, maritime sector innovation is not currently coordinated or attuned to national priorities. The diverse nature of the UK’s maritime sector has meant that innovation investment has lacked scale in comparison to other similarly sized sectors in the UK.

“Maritime 2050 rightly challenges us to collaborate to realise the opportunities ahead; whether that’s on autonomy, low-cabon technologies, or elsewhere,” said Harry Theochari, Chair of Maritime UK.

“MarRI-UK will deliver a truly national network of maritime innovation hubs – building upon the capacity and expertise of our universities and world-leading companies. In MarRI-UK, industry and government have a credible collaborative vehicle to deliver key technology recommendations from Maritime 2050,” he added.

A new virtual national innovation centre, strong on collaboration, will right this disparity and provide a channel to address some of the big global challenges. Harnessing leading academic research with highly innovative SMEs under the umbrella of our major companies will enable the UK to seek leadership in products, services and thinking. Leveraging innovation, MarRI-UK aims to address Maritime 2050 Technology needs in the midst of a profound transition for the global sector. For example, emission reduction challenges being set for the maritime industry by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) require new, ground-breaking, commercially viable solutions.