{"id":59273,"date":"2015-07-16T15:22:21","date_gmt":"2015-07-16T15:22:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=5d5cdfc8c300b3ff64fe07ae27a3e4e5"},"modified":"2015-07-16T15:22:21","modified_gmt":"2015-07-16T15:22:21","slug":"speech-address-to-the-all-party-parliamentary-maritime-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=59273","title":{"rendered":"Speech: Address to the All Party Parliamentary Maritime Group"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Introduction<\/h2>\n

Thank you for inviting me this evening (16 July 2015). <\/p>\n

As some of you may know, my interest in the maritime world extends well beyond the mere duties of office. <\/p>\n

I have a direct stake in the success of the industry myself.<\/p>\n

I am the proud owner of the MV Coronia.<\/p>\n

A pleasure steamer based out of Scarborough.<\/p>\n

She has a distinguished history.<\/p>\n

After her launch in the 1930s she saw service at Dunkirk, rescuing 900 men.<\/p>\n

Today she works the Yorkshire coast offering short cruises to the people of Scarborough and the town\u2019s many visitors. <\/p>\n

So I understand the importance of our maritime industry.<\/p>\n

Especially when you consider that with 95% of our international trade coming and going by sea, without the shipping industry life as we know it on this island would be inconceivable.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the millions of jobs the industry supports.<\/p>\n

And the professional services British businesses supply to visiting merchant ships.<\/p>\n

Shipping is just as vital to the UK as it always has been.<\/p>\n

For all its great history, the British shipping industry hasn\u2019t lost its fierce spirit of enterprise.<\/p>\n

Which is a good thing, given the competition we are facing from emerging maritime centres such as Singapore and Hong Kong.<\/p>\n

This evening, I want to set out the top 5 things occupying my attention as Shipping Minister.<\/p>\n

Industrial action at Calais<\/h2>\n

First, there\u2019s the unacceptable disruption to cross-Channel services of recent weeks<\/a>. <\/p>\n

If we are going to avoid further disruption, we need the French to make sure the port at Calais is secure.<\/p>\n

I have held a series of talks with transport ministers across Europe in order to put pressure on France to resolve this issue.<\/p>\n

And the Prime Minister has taken up the issue with President Hollande.<\/p>\n

Of course, when migrants exploit the situation, it makes things worse.<\/p>\n

We have already invested millions of pounds in security at Calais, and are ready to do more if necessary.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s a problem that needs to be solved at source.<\/p>\n

So we are working with our European partners to stem the appalling trafficking of people across the Mediterranean.<\/p>\n

Maritime Growth Study<\/h2>\n

The second big issue at the forefront of my attention is ensuring the British maritime industry remains internationally competitive.<\/p>\n

We know there are challenges facing the maritime industry, but we need to better understand them. <\/p>\n

Just as we need to better understand the opportunities we have to meet those challenges.<\/p>\n

That was our intention in launching the Maritime Growth Study<\/a> in November.<\/p>\n

Lord Mountevans is chairing the Study, advised by a panel of experts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Together they have collected evidence from the shipping world, trades unions, government agencies and many others.<\/p>\n

Lord Mountevans is set to publish his report at London International Shipping Week in September.<\/p>\n

But I am pleased to say that this week we will publish the evidence he has gathered so far<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Alongside 2 other reports commissioned as part of the Maritime Growth Study.<\/p>\n

One is a report of a study commissioned by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to review the performance of the UK Ship Register<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And the other is a report commissioned from economists at Oxera on our international maritime competitiveness<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The initial findings in these reports shouldn\u2019t surprise anyone.<\/p>\n

The UK is still a leading force in the maritime world.<\/p>\n

But the government and the industry need to provide more leadership.<\/p>\n

We need to invest in maritime skills.<\/p>\n

And the industry needs to be better promoted.<\/p>\n

London International Shipping Week 2015<\/h2>\n

The Maritime Growth Study needs to be followed by action. <\/p>\n

And that action must begin as soon as the full report is published.<\/p>\n

At London International Shipping Week<\/a> \u2013 the third important issue occupying my attention.<\/p>\n

We intend that the week will be the most important global maritime event of 2015.<\/p>\n

Attracting the top 200 global leaders to London, along with thousands more maritime movers and shakers. <\/p>\n

It will be a great opportunity for us to promote the UK\u2019s maritime and marine industries.<\/p>\n

And we intend to use the week to full effect. <\/p>\n

Port services regulation<\/h2>\n

The fourth matter at the top of my red box is the port services regulation.<\/p>\n

I am aware of the concerns about that regulation, and I share many of those concerns.<\/p>\n

During the negotiations, we argued that fairer competition between ports, not greater regulation of their internal operations, would be the best way to increase efficiency across Europe. <\/p>\n

I know opposition to the regulation will continue; not least from the ports themselves.<\/p>\n

But we must be pragmatic.<\/p>\n

We have made progress since the initial proposal. <\/p>\n

That improvement is reflected in what is known as the Council General Approach. <\/p>\n

The government will now defend what we have achieved through the negotiations.<\/p>\n

And we will examine proposed amendments from MEPs<\/abbr>, in addition to the 98 that have been proposed by the Rapporteur: some of which look like genuine improvements on the original proposal.<\/p>\n

Marine conservation zones<\/h2>\n

The fifth matter is something that I know is of concern to the ports sector; the designation and enforcement of marine conservation zones.<\/p>\n

The intention behind these zones is a good one: the protection of rare and threatened marine habitats and species.<\/p>\n

The first 27 conservation zones were designated by Defra<\/abbr> in 2013, and management measures for these sites are currently being implemented.<\/p>\n

Defra<\/abbr> is committed to designating more zones in future, and work to choose them is underway. <\/p>\n

We will continue to work with Defra<\/abbr> to ensure only those sites that achieve a balance between ecological advantages and economic costs are designated.<\/p>\n

Any detrimental impact to ports or shipping must be taken into account and minimised.<\/p>\n

I will be working with my colleagues in Defra<\/abbr> to ensure that remains the case.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

So those are the top 5 things on my to-do list.<\/p>\n

Of course, the full list is a lot longer, but I hope I\u2019ve been able to give you a sense of our commitment to protect our maritime industry.<\/p>\n

To promote it.<\/p>\n

And to ensure its growth.<\/p>\n

I am very happy to take your questions.<\/p>\n

Thank you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Five priorities for the maritime sector.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59273"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=59273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59273\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=59273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=59273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=59273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}