Humber jumps on board for major maritime event

The Humber is gearing up to showcase its skills and push for global recognition at a major maritime event in London.

It will be the region’s first representation at the biennial event, for which Lord Prescott will be among the advocates for the region, and is expected to attract around 15,000 global industry leaders.

London International Shipping Week will include the Humber Maritime Showcase on September 12, organised by Team Humber Marine Alliance in collaboration with the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership, the University of Hull and other regional stakeholders.

Lord Prescott said: “The Humber is one of the most exciting estuarial developments in the world today. Its connections, its renewable growth and potential make it a natural fit with the government’s industrial strategy.

“There are many exciting developments of national and global significance of which we’ll talk at the conference.”

Team Humber chairman and chief executive Mark O’Reilly said the week would provide outstanding opportunities to highlight the region’s strengths as a leading international maritime hub.
“We are the UK’s busiest ports complex by tonnage and fourth biggest in Europe with 16,100 employed across the sector,” he said.

“All these people represent a vast range of skills that make the Humber an attractive proposition, whether for renewables or traditional maritime industries.

“As the UK’s Energy Estuary we have in recent years £100s of millions in new transformative port infrastructure to support the burgeoning renewables and automotive logistics industries.”

Other speakers who will promote the case for the Humber at the half-day conference are Simon Bird, Humber director of Associated British Ports; David Dingle, chairman of shipping coalition MaritimeUK; Kishor Tailor, chief executive Humber LEP; and Stephen Weaver, P&O Ferries’ head of commercial strategy and new business development.

Bird will explain how ABP’s four ports on the Humber are crucial to the northern and wider UK economy, offering outstanding connectivity to major cities.

“ABP Humber plays a major role in supporting the energy sector underlined by recent investments of £130m in Immingham Renewable Fuels Terminal and £150min Green Port Hull to support wind energy manufacturing,” he said.

“We are also heavily involved in the automotive, food and forest products sectors and with our recent £50m investment in our container terminals our established container shipping work is expanding rapidly.

“There is a reason for the Humber being the UK’s busiest trading estuary.”