U.K. Government Gathers to Launch London International Shipping Week
The U.K. government and members of the international maritime community gathered to launch the first ever London International Shipping Week according to an article from MarineLink.com.
“London’s crucial central role in the global shipping industry was highlighted,” the article stated.
Norman Baker MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport spoke of how the maritime sector adds £14billion to the U.K. economy and how employment in the U.K.’s shipping industry has grown despite recession and increased by 100% since 2004.
While they met to launch the week long event, London International Shipping Week is still a couple weeks away, running from September 9-13 according to the MarineLink article.
There is an official website for the London International Shipping Week. The website describes it in this way:
Seen as the ‘must attend’ event in 2013 for the global shipping industry, London International Shipping Week will bring world shipping together for one week.
With a wealth of industry functions planned for the week, London International Shipping Week will be the high level networking opportunity of the year for leaders across all sectors of the international shipping industry – regulators, charterers, ship owners, ship managers, lawyers, brokers, bankers, insurers, ship suppliers, ports and shipping service providers and all involved in the shipping world.
Events during the London International Shipping Week cover a wide range international shipping related topics and activities.
There will be maritime law and shipping policy meetings, a piracy briefing, shipping technology showcase, a conference on enhancing maritime security, and much more. One thing during the London International Shipping Week that I know Universal Cargo Management’s own CEO, Devin Burke would be interested in is a charity golf day.
Back to that MarineLinnk article, Mr. Baker pledged that the U.K.’s Coalition Government “is keen to foster a closer and more coordinated partnership with both shipping and the wider maritime industry.”
Mr. Baker revealed, according to the article, “that [the government] has established a maritime strategic partnership to bring together key government departments and industry champions to focus on maximizing growth and opportunities while maintaining a stable fiscal and regulatory environment.”
With the strength of U.S. international shipping and all that it brings to the economy here, it would be nice to hear similar words from leaders of the U.S. government. And of course, even nicer to see action with it.
The Obama administration has been criticized for a lack of strong maritime support, specifically in the area of short sea shipping funding. There is no Obamaritime like there’s an Obamacare(Shout out to Annie Eshleman who jokingly suggested today’s blog breakdown Obamacare through a facebook comment).
Comparing the size of U.S. shipping to U.K. shipping, perhaps it would be appropriate to have an International Shipping Month here, rather than a week. At this point, I would settle for an International Shipping Day.
Or maybe hearing President Obama say of the U.S. government what Mr. Baker said of the U.K. government would be enough:
“The contribution of the maritime industry to the life and economy of the U.K. is fully appreciated at the highest levels of government.”
Sources:
http://www.marinelink.com/news/international-shipping357205.aspx
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