Shipping at the heart of UK prosperity and security

The UK maritime industry is a national asset on a scale few appreciate. It directly employs more than 100,000 people and supports over three-quarters of a million jobs across the wider economy. It contributes more than £16Bn in direct gross value added, rising to over £46Bn when its full footprint is included, and enables over £1Tn of UK trade. On both contribution and growth, it outperforms every other transport sector.

“Shipping has always been fundamental to trade and prosperity,” Mr Hatcher said. “Today it is equally fundamental to resilience, security and competitiveness. They are inextricably linked.”

These are not loose claims. The Chamber’s latest competitiveness report ranks the UK fifth among 44 maritime nations, fourth for regulatory environment and governance, and fifth for fleet and capital. Mr Hatcher sees this as both an achievement and a warning.

“Fifth in the world is a strong position. It is not one the industry will take for granted,” he said.

In his view, competitiveness is a discipline, not a trophy. A competitive industry invests, innovates, attracts talent and adapts. The goal is not to defend fifth place, but to climb.

That thinking shapes the second edition of Shipping UK, a one-day conference delivered by the UK Chamber of Shipping in partnership with Riviera Maritime Media that unites the sector with key stakeholders, UK and international policymakers, and subject experts in the heart of Westminster. The first edition, in 2024, drew more than 300 senior leaders from commercial shipping, finance, defence and government.

The first panel, is focused on the “triple imperative”, and explores how sustainability, security and regulation together will define the decade ahead. After all, as Mr Hatcher points out, no single company or sector makes a maritime nation. Strength lies in the ecosystem: operators, insurers, lawyers, bankers, financiers, brokers, ports and technology firms. This system will determine whether the UK shapes global change or reacts to it.

A strategic industry, not a background service

For years, shipping was taken for granted because it worked. Goods moved and supply chains held. The work stayed out of sight.

That has changed. Mr Hatcher pointed to a more dangerous world: vessels diverted from the Suez Canal, conflict in the Black Sea and Red Sea, and rising tensions in the South China Sea. Add cyber attacks, strikes on commercial ships, pressure on undersea infrastructure, sightings of drones in the North Sea around critical infrastructure and the coercive use of geography. Sea lanes now look less like a utility and more like contested ground.

“Maritime resilience is no longer a theoretical concept,” he said. “It is a defining test of our national resilience.”

For an island nation, the stakes are higher. There is no overland alternative. Britain cannot be secure without economic resilience. It cannot be competitive if supply chains are fragile. It cannot discuss defence seriously without the commercial fleet that supports it.

This logic shapes the 2026 programme. Shipping UK runs two parallel streams. The first, Sustainability and Prosperity, covers decarbonisation, transition finance, supply chains and workforce. The second, Security and Innovation, addresses geopolitical risk, war readiness, future fuels and digital transformation.

In the afternoon, a risk mitigation masterclass turns strategy into practice. It covers sanctions, regional tensions and the cyber-physical threats facing commercial fleets.

Decarbonisation: where the UK can lead, and where it could slip

Decarbonisation runs through every part of the industry. Mr Hatcher describes it as the challenge of a lifetime, spanning generations and increasingly fragmented at both regional and international levels.

The Chamber moved early. It set decarbonisation goals in 2021, ahead of both the UK Government and the International Chamber of Shipping. Its environmental committee and carbon working group now bring together aligned organisations and enable coherent and consistent messaging.

There are real opportunities, if the UK acts. Alternative fuels are central, and particularly bunkering. Mr Hatcher sees a path to making the UK one of Europe’s leading sources for low-carbon fuels. Skills are another opportunity. The sector must train crews for new fuels and technologies while retraining those already at sea.

The Future Fuel Pathways session addresses this directly. It maps each fuel against development, regulation and training, and assesses which are progressing fastest.

The risks are equally clear. The UK is a leader in offshore capability but could fall behind if policy stalls. Skilled labour is in short supply. Electricity features prominently among future fuels, but depends on generation capacity, grid infrastructure and distribution to ports. Other fuels are not yet available at scale, which raises a practical question: how to accelerate adoption.

A session titled Green Light or Green Lite? examines financing. It asks how public and private capital can de-risk the investments needed for transition.

Policy is moving. Maritime joined the UK Emissions Trading Scheme on 1 July. The Chamber is working to prevent double counting of emissions and to avoid disadvantaging operators working with the UK. Mr Hatcher highlighted one specific risk: domestic ferry routes that provide lifeline services may need short-term, tailored support. This is likely to feature as a talking point in the Passenger Shipping session.

He was clear that decarbonisation requires a whole-of-government approach. It now competes with defence, energy and infrastructure for limited funding. Shifting resources to one area weakens another. Either ambition is reduced or timelines slip. Both risk putting the UK out of step with commitments to European and international partners.

These trade-offs, he suggested, should be debated openly.

Representing the breadth of UK shipping 

The Chamber’s membership spans “tugs to tankers and container ships to cruise liners”. Priorities differ across sectors, but decarbonisation is a shared focus. Both industry and government are long-term investors, suited to long time horizons.

Because most members operate internationally, the Chamber works at three levels: domestically, and with sister associations in Europe through the European Community Shipowners’ Association, and globally through the International Chamber of Shipping.

People remain central. Recruitment, retention and public awareness are persistent challenges. The Chamber is addressing these through a national awareness campaign, driven by the Merchant Navy Training Board. A dedicated session, Recruiting and Retaining Talent Amid Turbulence, focuses on building and sustaining the workforce in a volatile environment.

Seafarer pay and welfare remain active issues, with different implications across the membership. Sessions on global supply chains and the future of passenger shipping complete the morning’s focus on prosperity.

Breaking the silos

Mr Hatcher’s central message to government is simple: improve coordination. He pointed to the National Resilience Action Plan, which calls for clearer roles, responsibilities and cross-government alignment.

The problem is fragmentation. Defence focuses on readiness. Transport focuses on infrastructure. Energy focuses on supply. The Treasury focuses on cost. Industry focuses on competitiveness. Maritime sits across all of these, yet is handled in parts.

“If the system is treated in fragments, the response will be fragmented,” he said.

The Chamber is calling for stronger coordination from the centre, clear ownership within government, and closer alignment between industry and national security. The aim is to shape policy early, not respond after the fact.

Holding the event in Westminster supports that aim. Organisers describe it as policy influence rather than policy discussion. The structure reinforces this. Plenary synthesis sessions follow each stream, distilling key findings. A closing session, The Path Forward, sets out actions for delegates to take forward.

Eyes on 2030

Underlying the programme is a single ambition: to influence upstream.

“If you do not get upstream and influence policy, you can’t assume you will get  the regulation you need,” Mr Hatcher said.

Shipping UK is designed by the industry, for the industry. Every session looks to 2030, not the past. Topics range from regulation and cargo patterns to workforce demand and technology readiness. An afternoon session on digital return on investment examines how operators maintain an edge through voyage optimisation and predictive maintenance.

Mr Hatcher places equal weight on evidence and history. The Chamber will employ new competitiveness findings at the event. History may not repeat, but it often rhymes.

The venue is deliberate. The QEII Centre in Westminster places the discussion among policymakers, regulators, operators and enablers. It reflects the Chamber’s focus on convening stakeholders and turning discussion into action.

“We want more than a conversation,” he said. “We want actions, with people putting their hands up to take them.”

Timing may also be favourable. With a new Prime Minister and a potential reshuffle, October could provide a moment to align priorities and ask a simple question: what happens next?

Mr Hatcher closed with an offer rather than a demand. “It is not all about the ask. We are offering. Policy makers need to allow us to help them to help us.”

His message was direct. Shipping is not peripheral to national wellbeing. It is central to it.

Shipping UK  takes place on 6 October 2026 at the QEII Centre, Westminster, hosted by the UK Chamber of Shipping in partnership with Riviera Maritime Media. Tickets are available via the following link.