A full service offering

With the UK serving as a hub for all types of professional maritime services, the world looks to it as a benchmark for activity in the sector.

An unmatched history of excellence in the shipbroking, insurance, legal, arbitration, protection & indemnity and finance fields means that the UK is the first port of call for those seeking maritime business services of the highest calibre. More vessels are fixed through UK-based shipbrokers, more capital is provided through London’s banks and funds, and more vessels are insured in Britain than in any other location in the world. Moreover, English law is applied to more shipping contracts than the law of any other country and London possesses the highest concentration of solicitors, barristers and arbitrators specialising in maritime issues and dispute resolution.

Maritime business services can be found across the UK, with the City of London home to numerous companies providing expertise across the full range of maritime service sectors. Offering support to the UK’s maritime services cluster is a highly-skilled expertise pool which benefits from collaboration between the various professions. This cross fertilisation of expertise underpins continual improvement in a competitive market and the formation of a culture of excellence.

Over a quarter of global shipbroking is transacted in the UK, a figure that is significantly higher than any of the country’s competitors. In insurance, the UK is also the global leader, accounting for 35% of world marine insurance premiums and 60% of protection & indemnity insurance. London is home to the leading source of market information on the trading and settlement of physical and financial shipping derivative contracts in the form of The Baltic Exchange. Additionally, with a quarter of maritime legal partners practicing in the UK and significantly more maritime disputes being settled by English arbitration than anywhere else in the world, the UK undeniably leads the global maritime services industry.

Staying vigilant

Jos Standerwick, chief executive of Maritime UK member Maritime London ─ a trade association for companies providing professional services to the international shipping industry ─ describes the UK and London as “the leading international maritime professional services centre”. While he acknowledges that everyone is “working within the context of the omnipresent Brexit”, there is little to indicate a future substantive, negative repercussion on the services sector as a result of the UK’s exit from the European Union. Maritime London is working increasingly closely with UK government departments, through Maritime UK and independently, to ensure that it is doing all it can to protect the maritime services sector from any adverse effects and capitalise on the possibility of new trade details with the primary maritime markets. However, he adds that emerging markets have the potential to infringe on the UK maritime services industry’s dominance.

“China’s, and for that matter, Singapore’s, growth has been good for the UK’s maritime business services,” he comments. “We are, after all, an export industry, and have been uniquely placed to exploit and expand in these emerging markets. However, we must ensure London and the UK retains the ability to capitalise on these expanding markets and not be consumed by them.”

He adds: “This is a delicate balancing act, but I believe, through transparent dialogue with our overseas partners and aggressively promoting our unique strength and depth, we can ─ and actually must ─ create equitable partnerships that will benefit the UK in the short, medium and long term.”

Maritime UK as the collective voice of the sector has a fundamental role to play in this mission, as it works to corral its constituent members to make the business case for the UK.

Retaining the UK’s maritime services competitivity in a global marketplace is a challenge that is also felt by Mark Jackson, The Baltic Exchange’s chief executive officer. The Baltic Exchange is also a member of Maritime UK.

“Shipbrokers thrive on the local presence of their clients, and it’s important that London and the UK remain an attractive place for shipowners, in particular, to do business,” he explains. “The current visa arrangements already hamper the ability of international businesspeople to enter and remain in the UK easily, and it is vital that any regime implemented after the UK’s withdrawal from the EU is comparable with those in competitor jurisdictions. It is also critical that UK-based companies are able to source personnel on the basis of expertise and talent, rather than their nationality. The visa process needs to be simple, straightforward, predictable and stable.”

Julie Lithgow, director of Maritime UK member the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS) ─ a professional body for all members of the commercial shipping industry worldwide ─ is also considering the impact of Brexit on the UK’s maritime services sector. For her part, Ms Lithgow stresses that open trade borders must be a priority for a post-Brexit world.

Beyond Brexit, Ms Lithgow raises concerns of “a lack of investment in education and training within maritime companies” as an important problem that the maritime services sector must contend with today.

Partnering for enhancement

In co-operation with Maritime UK, the ICS aims to continuously improve the UK maritime services sector: “The ICS and Maritime UK are co-ordinating where separate sectors have overlying concerns, such as Brexit, funding for skills and education, government briefing and London International Shipping Week (LISW),” Ms Lithgow explains. For the coming year, the ICS is looking to develop apprenticeships in the port agency sector to further promote and support the maritime services field in the country.

Concerns for Baltic Exchange members centre around taxation, financial and commodity market regulation, and support for London to cement its status as the world’s leading maritime services centre. Mr Jackson also recognises the importance of collaboration to tackle these issues: “Our voice is greatly amplified at government level by working with the many other sectors which collectively make up Maritime UK. Maritime UK has had a very positive impact and continues to facilitate our dialogue with decision-makers at the highest levels.”

At Maritime London, Mr Standerwick says that this year, the trade association “is going to do more to focus on those supporting sectors that play a fundamental role in our holistic offering” and will highlight the importance of the extent of both London and the UK’s maritime business. Maritime London also plans to strengthen its links with China and Greece in 2018 and develop a framework for constructive dialogue between its members and the British government.

In December 2017, Maritime London’s members voted for the International Maritime Industries Forum to be incorporated into the association – an important development, says Mr Standerwick.

“As was highlighted in the Maritime Growth Study, for too long the UK maritime sector has been too fragmented,” he says. “This has not helped our cause when engaging with government and promoting the sector. Maritime UK has provided the sector a framework to present a united front, which has been of great benefit to the members of Maritime UK and their respective sectors. This is evidenced by the enhanced LISW, the increased engagement by government and the national press coverage achieved.”

Working together, Maritime London and Maritime UK have created forums, such as the Ministerial Working Group, to allow the sector to engage at the highest level with relevant government departments. Additionally, statistical research commissioned in 2017 by Maritime UK with the Centre for Economics and Business Research gave a holistic sector view and highlighted the significant role of professional services in the UK.

By working with different organisations pertinent to the UK maritime services sector, Maritime UK is helping to ensure that this services industry continues to stand at the forefront of the world stage.