• Second national Maritime UK Awards to be hosted in Plymouth
• Expert panel of industry judges announced
• Awards to include government’s ‘Clean Maritime Awards‘
• City’s MLA College is 2020 Diamond Sponsor
• Companies urged to enter awards today

Maritime UK is today (Monday, 8 June) launching its national awards programme, celebrating a sector worth over £46.1bn to the UK economy and supporting over 1 million jobs.

The Maritime UK Awards, held for the first-time in Southampton in September 2019, are the UK’s national maritime awards, organised by industry, for the benefit of industry.

2020’s awards will be open to companies from across the breadth of the maritime sector, comprising the shipping, ports, services, engineering, and leisure marine industries. The awards ceremony is scheduled to take place in the autumn of 2020.

Helping to shine a spotlight on each of the UK’s coastal maritime economies, the awards evenings are held in a different UK maritime region each year. The first awards ceremony took place in the Solent, where 400 people enjoyed a packed evening of awards presentations and entertainment. The second iteration will be hosted in the newly refurbished Home Park stadium, in Plymouth, which badges itself as Britain’s Ocean City.

Winners of the inaugural awards included: Spinnaker Global, Shakespeare Monofilament UK, Seafarers UK & Sea Cadets, Port of Cromarty Firth, Mersey Maritime, Actisense, Hill Dickinson, ARC Marine, Cornwall Marine Academy, Royal HaskoningDHV, Ribeye Boats and Red Funnel.

Building on last year’s awards, the government is supporting three ‘Clean Maritime’ award categories: Clean Maritime Innovator; Clean Maritime Enabler and Clean Maritime Operator. Winners of these new awards will be announced following last summer’s publication of the Department for Transport’s Clean Maritime Plan.

Maritime UK is announcing MLA College as Diamond Sponsor for the 2020 awards.

Maritime UK Chair, said:

“We are hugely excited to be bringing the second Maritime UK Awards to Plymouth. A city in a region with substantial maritime history and an increasingly impressive maritime proposition. The region is leading our global sector in the maritime industries of the future – marine science, aquaculture and autonomy.

“I’m really pleased that the government’s Clean Maritime Awards are going to be added to this year’s Maritime UK Awards. Last year the Department for Transport launched our Clean Maritime Plan as part of Maritime 2050 and these new categories will shine a spotlight on the exciting projects that are leading our decarbonisation journey.

“Whilst the global economy is facing a period of significant challenge, it’s vital that we push ahead with our national awards. Our sector is strong, resilient and capable. Our businesses are getting on with the day job, enabling UK trade, designing and manufacturing world-class products, and providing the best professional services this sector has to offer. In tough times we adapt and succeed. Once we’re through this immediate period of challenge, it’s going to be important to come together and plan for the future – a future, which, despite coronavirus, will still be presenting us with substantial challenges such as responding to climate change. In many ways, therefore, the current pandemic makes the awards even more important than before.”

Kelly Tolhurst MP, Maritime Minister at the Department for Transport, said: 

“The UK’s maritime sector leads the world and celebrating today’s sustainable success stories will inspire tomorrow’s leaders.

“Working with the industry through Maritime UK, we are kickstarting this country’s green recovery. That’s why we are supporting three clean maritime awards, to help us build a stronger, safer and more sustainable maritime environment for us all in the future.”

The maritime sector makes a significant contribution to the Plymouth economy, a city at the heart of a region where maritime contributes £3.8bn to the economy and supports 108,500 jobs. Plymouth City Council are hosting the awards with regional cluster body, Maritime UK South West.

Prof John Chudley, MLA College Rector, said:

“MLA College is delighted to be the Diamond Sponsor of the Maritime UK Awards 2020 and we look forward to welcoming you to our home city of Plymouth, Britain’s Ocean City. We find ourselves in the middle of a global pandemic with the maritime industry very much in uncharted waters. The Maritime UK Awards are a fantastic opportunity for the industry to celebrate success and look forward in these uncertain times.”

2020’s award categories are:

• Diversity Award
• Innovation Award
• Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics Award
• Clean Maritime Innovator
• Clean Maritime Enabler
• Clean Maritime Operator
• Coastal Powerhouse Award
• International Trade Award
• Employer of the Year Award
• Start-up of the Year Award
• Future Skills Award
• Maritime Professional of the Year
• Business of the Year Award
• 2050 Award

The Maritime UK Awards will be judged by a panel of internationally recognised maritime leaders, who will be profiled over the coming weeks.

2020’s judges are:

• Barbara Buczek, Chief Commercial Officer, Port of Dover
• Elizabeth Paull, Managing Director, Chelsea Technologies
• Iain Percy, Chief Executive Officer, Artemis Technologies
• Jackie Anderson, Group HR Manager, Forth Ports
• Janet Sykes, Chief Commercial Officer, The Baltic Exchange
• Janette Bell, Chief Executive Officer, P&O Ferries
• Jeff Houlgrave, Chair, Superyacht UK
• Jerry Hopkinson, Chief Operating Officer and Vice Chair, PD Ports
• Jim Stewart, Chief Executive, Poole Harbour Commissioners
• John Napton. Director, UK and Ireland, Brittany Ferries
• Mark Dickinson, General Secretary, Nautilus International
• Mark Jackson, Chief Executive, The Baltic Exchange
• Roger Hargreaves, Maritime Director, Department for Transport
• Russell Gould, Chief Executive, Hensoldt UK
• Sarah Wallbank, Chief Executive Officer, August Race Worldwide
• Susan Oatway, Chair, Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers

Every element of the Maritime UK Awards is about bringing the industry together, with any profit generated from the awards ploughed back into Maritime UK’s cross-sector initiatives.

To find out about the awards, which take place at the newly refurbished Home Park Stadium in Plymouth, and how to enter visit: www.maritimeuk.org/awards.

The confirmed date for the awards evening will be published in due course and kept under constant review to ensure compliance with government guidance on social distancing.

Companies have until 31 August 2020 to submit an entry.