Organised by Mersey Maritime, the Maritime Exchange was developed in 2019 in response to the Government’s Maritime 2050 report and will include high-level speakers. Tony McDonough reports

Maritime industry leaders and senior politicians will take part in the second annual Maritime Exchange conference on 15 October 2020 as part of the national Maritime UK Week.

Organised by Mersey Maritime, the Maritime Exchange was developed in 2019 in response to the Government’s Maritime 2050 report that sets out the long-term strategy for the UK maritime sector, which is annually worth £4bn in Merseyside alone.

The conference will focus on some of the core themes, opportunities and challenges the industry has faced over the last six months with regards to global coronavirus pandemic, with one of the panels focusing on mental health and wellbeing, and the second focusing on the current and future opportunities around technology and innovation (decarbonisation) within the sector.

And the event, being held virtually, will also see a significant update on the work to progress the second phase of the Maritime Knowledge Hub project at Peel L&P’s Wirral Waters.

After a number of years in the planning phase, Mersey Maritime will join with its partners in leading the call for the wider industry to get engaged with supporting its progression in the near future.

Built around the Grade II-listed 19th century hydraulic tower building, a copy of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, in Wirral Waters, the MKH will provide a national base for marine engineering research and development as well as skills training and business accelerator space. It will create 4,000 jobs in its first five years.

Partners in the project, which include industry body Mersey Maritime, Peel L&P and Wirral Council are now confident that the transformative project will become a reality from this autumn onwards. Confirmed speaker at The Maritime Exchange conference will include:

• Nusrat Ghani MP, former Maritime Minister and Member of the BEIS Select Committee.
• Ben Murray, director of Maritime UK.
• Richard Mawdsley, Director of Development at Wirral Waters, Peel L&P.
• Mark Dickinson, general secretary of Nautilus International, the specialist trade union for maritime professionals.
• A senior team member from Artemis Technologies and the Belfast Maritime Consortium.

Mersey Maritime is delighted to announce a number of significant sponsors for the second iteration of this major conference with the Royal Navy, Wirral Waters and Nautilus International all signed up to back the event.

The virtual conference is free to attend for businesses operating in and supporting the maritime industry, to find out more and register your interest click here.