The UK government is set to deploy one of the Royal Navy’s two aircraft carriers to the Red Sea, replacing the USS Dwight D Eisenhower when it returns to the US. While there’s much in Britain’s defences to take issue with, it’s a reminder that London still plays a leading role on the international stage, providing security to our allies and plugging critical gaps with capabilities no-one else can provide.

The carrier will reinforce and strengthen the US-led coalition already deployed to theatre, taking position alongside HMS Diamond, the Type 45 Destroyer which has already won considerable plaudits for its sterling work defending international shipping against Houthi missiles and drones.

Both are needed. Beyond the activities of its Houthi proxies, Tehran is stepping up their campaign targeting global shipping and military bases across the Middle East.

Some 40 per cent of trade between Asia and Europe passes through the Red Sea, and currently risks disruption from Houthi attacks. Despite the repeated cuts to numbers and chronic under-investment, Britain is doing its part in a region where all of Europe has heavily vested interests in maintaining security. The rest of the continent is not.

When politicians and bureaucrats in Brussels, Paris and Berlin are openly speculating about the consequences of a second Trump administration in Washington for European security, and visibly fearful over the future of Nato, it is startling that they have offered so little assistance in securing the free flow of trade.

The European Union and its members are almost allergic to deploying hard military power at times when it is most needed, preferring instead to offer token deployments and avoid spending on defence. Even when their interests are directly threatened, even when it is in their own back garden, they are all too happy to sit back and let Britain and America do the heavy lifting.

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Following a competitive, international selection process, the Port of London Authority (PLA) has signed a contract with British family-run company, Goodchild Marine Services Ltd, to build a new pilot vessel.

With 95 miles of the tidal Thames under its jurisdiction, the PLA, the UK’s largest port, is investing significantly in its people, infrastructure and equipment to meet increasing demand for its pilotage services as its customers and terminals continue to grow.

This winning tender follows Goodchild Marine’s success during London International Shipping Week, where it was honoured twice at the 2023 National Maritime SME Awards, collecting the awards for “Best Family Business” and overall winner of the “National Maritime SME Business of the Year”.

This vessel acquisition represents a small part of the largest capital investment plan for the PLA in over 20 years. Supporting their customers’ future growth plans, this investment plan is key to delivering the PLA’s Thames Vision; to be the UK’s leading Net Zero port by 2040.

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The Offshore Wind Growth Partnership (OWGP) has released its latest Development Grant funding call, with £2 million available for UK businesses looking to accelerate their growth in the offshore wind supply chain.

Funding is available for projects that target at least one of the high-value focus areas identified in the recent Supply Chain Capability Analysis report, commissioned by the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) and OWGP.

Proposals should align with one of the nine supply chain categories that represent high value opportunities for the UK, including cables, substations and electrical design, steel fabrication, floating wind, development services, offshore services, vessels, blades and rotor assembly and Wind Turbine Generator components.

OWGP also revealed the 11 companies that have secured a share of the £2.4 million funding pot released in May 2023. EchoBolt, Insensys, Unmanned Survey Solutions, Encomara, Quoceant, Technip FMC, Plaswire, CRC Evans, London Marine Consultants, SeaRoc and Windscope have all been awarded OWGP Development Grant Funding to support offshore wind supply chain projects totalling £5m.

The successful projects have a key focus on improving capability, increasing competitiveness, and driving forward business growth within the offshore wind sector.

For more information and to apply for funding, visit

GOVAN Drydock Limited has secured change of use planning consent that will allow for the full reopening Drydock Number 1, which was previously designated derelict.

Now operational as a ship repair and maintenance facility, it secured a contract earlier this year to project manage and undertake the first phase of major restoration and repair work on the TS Queen Mary.

Peter Breslin, MD of Govan Drydock Limited, said, “Securing planning consent will allow us to continue the regeneration work on Govan Drydock, which has been derelict for the past 36 years. It is great news for the Govan area of Glasgow and will bring future job opportunities.

“It will also enable us to continue the repair and restoration work we have been undertaking over the past six months on the TS Queen Mary.”

The organisation added that the reopening of the Drydock Number 1 marks a ‘key’ component of the wider mixed-use proposals, led by New City Vision, which would see the seamless integration of community and industry, with the derelict site transformed into a vibrant neighbourhood with new residential housing and a hub for community projects interwoven with the historic landmark.

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Previous suggestions had put the cost of the project at €200m but that has now been increased.

The Irish Government has increased the budget for a new naval ship, which will be the largest in the State’s history, to €300m.

Last week the Journal reported that the Department of Defence was set to release documents associated with the tender process for the new Multi-Role Vessel (MRV) which will allow the Irish Naval Service respond to large-scale humanitarian crises.

Those documents have now been released on a European Union portal.

Multiple security sources said that the increase in budget would mean a more capable ship than first envisaged.

The release reveals that the ship would be an “auxiliary hospital, cargo, tanker and roll-on-roll off vessel”. This means that it will be able to carry vehicles which will be able to drive off a ramp while it is deployed.

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Operator, the Isles of Scilly Steamship Group (ISSG) has has signed landmark contracts with French shipbuilding group, PIRIOU, which will secure the long-term future of passenger travel and freight supplies to and from the islands off Cornwall, England.

The ISSG which is the primary provider of passenger and freight transport to the Isles of Scilly, signed the contracts for two new ships (a passenger ferry and cargoship) to be delivered in 2026, in which the operator highlight will make journeys faster, more comfortable, and environmentally sustainable, whilst improving on reliability.

The Steamship Group, which operates passenger and cargo links between Penzance and St Mary’s, as well as an airline with flights to the islands year round, has signed contracts for a new 600-seat passenger vessel, Scillonian IV, and a freight vessel.

Brittany-based Piriou has been developing designs for the two vessels since its appointment as preferred ship builder in September 2023, work which will continue over the coming months, with construction to begin in spring 2024.

The new passenger ship will provide improved comfort, reliability and speed, whilst the new freight vessel will significantly improve cargo capacity.

The new vessels will be delivered using finance provided by long-term partner to ISSG, Lombard (part of NatWest Group). The solution puts in place modern vessels that will future-proof transport to and from the Isles of Scilly, providing economic certainty for the islands and securing a lifeline link for the community on Scilly.

Now that contracts are signed and finance is in place, final preparations will be made over the coming months to ensure works start on schedule in the spring. Both vessels will be built by Piriou in Vietnam, before being transported to Concarneau, Brittany for commissioning. The Group’s existing passenger vessel, Scillonian III, which is currently undergoing her annual schedule of maintenance, has been a workhorse for the islands since 1977 and will continue to serve the route during the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

The new vessels will feature a range of new technologies, helping to improve resilience, comfort and reliability. The new passenger vessel will carry up to 600 people (a 24% increase on current levels) whilst reducing journey times.

It will feature roll and pitch reduction systems, thereby enhancing passenger comfort, and is designed utilising modern propulsion technologies that improve efficiency and reduce environmental impact. The vessel is also designed to integrate further enhancements as technology develops.

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The purchase of the Irish Navy’s biggest ship in its history which will respond to humanitarian crises is set to move a step forward as information documents are to be issued across an EU platform.

The project has been in planning in the Department of Defence for many years but stepped up a gear with the recent Commission on the Defence Forces.

Sources have said the ship is anticipated to have a helicopter landing area on board as well as other possible facilities such as a roll-on-roll-off facility for vehicles like the Defence Forces armoured personnel carriers.

The project will cost an estimated €200m however it is understood that the exact cost will not be decided on until the completion of the tender process.
Sources, with a knowledge of the planning process, said that officials had spoken to several shipbuilding firms across Europe and wider afield either formally or informally.

It is understood that a number of those firms are likely to make their interest in construction known. With a potential date of completion hoped for 2025.

A source also stated that there will likely be an effort to award the build of the ship to a European firm with a dockyard in Poland the most likely location if the State opts for one of the EU companies.

It is understood that British ship builder, Babcock International Group which previously built a number of patrol ships for the Irish Naval Service would be a potential builder. Their offering would likely be their Arrowhead MRV.

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His Majesty’s Naval Base (HMNB) Portsmouth has initiated a project with Smarter Technologies, a British Internet-of-Things (IoT) solutions provider, to improve the operational efficiency of the port.

The project involves the use of Smarter Technologies‘ Orion IoT Data Network to address the challenges faced by the port, which is home to a significant portion of the Royal Navy’s surface fleet and experiences around 130,000 significant movements annually.

The Infrastructure Asset Management team at HMNB Portsmouth has incorporated this technology to better manage the complex and historic naval base. The introduction of depth sensors in the dockyard’s basins and transit locks is a key aspect of this project. These sensors provide real-time data on water levels, allowing for more informed decisions regarding the operation of locks and pumps.

This technology has enabled the Asset Management and Waterfront teams at HMNB Portsmouth to optimize water levels and reduce unnecessary pumping operations, leading to operational efficiencies. The data from the sensors is accessible through a dashboard, facilitating immediate and evidence-based decision-making.

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One of the ferries being built in Turkey to serve the Scottish islands will be delivered this year, possibly before the first of the pair under construction at Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) Limited on the Clyde.

The Turkish vessel will be launched at the CEMRE SHIPYARD in Yalova on 16 March, two years after a four-ferry contract was awarded.

It will then undergo fit-out before arriving in Scotland in October ready for trials. It will operate on the Islay and Jura routes and will be be named MV Isle of Islay.

MV Glen Sannox, originally due in 2018, remains on course to be delivered by Ferguson Marine later this year although its completion date has continually slipped. MV Glen Rosa is not likely to be in service until the spring of next year.

The final cost of the two Ferguson ships is expected to be more than £300 million, compared with an initial contract award of £97 million.
However, the vessels being built in Turkey are on time and on budget.

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Plans to build a world class maritime centre of excellence, focused on innovation, engineering, R&D, entrepreneurship, and training at the heart of Peel L&P’s Wirral Waters, have been put on hold as Wirral Council says no viable plans to fund it have been brought forward.

A report has asked Councillors at a Policy and Resources committee meeting on January 17 to remove the project from its regeneration programme “until such time as a viable scheme is brought forward for consideration.” Another report published by the council shows the £12.3m budget for the current financial year being removed with no money dedicated towards the project in the next four years.

In March 2023, the former Chief Executive of Mersey Maritime, Chris Shirling-Rooke, the self- acclaimed champion for the maritime industry in the North West of England, and now Chief Executive Officer of Maritime UK triumphantly announced that the Maritime Knowledge Hub was to be built. A huge project proposed by Peel L&P to transform the derelict Central Hydraulic Tower on the Birkenhead docks opposite the entrance to the Birkenhead ferry terminal. Planning permission for the Wirral Waters scheme was granted in 2023 and promised “world-leading facilities” researching how to make the $3tn maritime industry more sustainable.

The council has said no viable business case has been brought forward and given the council’s current financial position, “the current balance of financial risk between public and private sector investors within the indicative proposals could not realistically be accepted by the council at the current time.”

Whilst some would argue that Mersey Maritime were handed a project they didn’t really want, its former Chief Executive was nevertheless was one of the primary movers in ‘selling the concept’ to stakeholders. So why did he simply decide to leave it to wither on the vine and depart for pastures new without first ensuring that there was a robust business plan in place.

After all, the Maritime Knowledge Hub was his opportunity to safeguard his legacy for years to come.

Either way, it would appear, that there was not enough genuine ownership and vision to deliver the project for now. Nonetheless, it great to hear that the council remains fully committed to progressing with the project and is continuing to pursue other areas of funding to prepare an invest-able business case for the development of the hub.

It’s an amazing project that regions maritime sector desperately needs and deserves. Let’s hope for the benefit all, that the challenges this project is currently experiencing can be overcome.

And let’s not forget over promising and under-delivering affects us all. It is not a winning approach to help drive trade and growth for UK maritime industries.

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