The International Trade Secretary has announced a new exports office to turbocharge the UK’s maritime trade sector as part of a £4 billion investment in shipbuilding.
The Maritime Capability Campaign Office (MCCO) will unite the Department’s defence export and civil maritime capabilities in one unit, targeting export opportunities estimated to be worth up to £600 million.
The MCCO will also work with industry and the government’s National Shipbuilding Office to line up high-quality maritime trade opportunities for UK firms in the maritime sector looking to export worldwide.
It will form the exports and investment arm of the government’s National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS), Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said.
The NSS seeks to increase competitiveness and productivity throughout the shipbuilding industry, investing £4 billion over the next three years to create jobs and help level up across the country.
It will include a 30-year cross-government shipbuilding pipeline of more than 150 new vessels, investing over £200 million in a new UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions to help fund green research and innovation, and a new Shipbuilding Skills Taskforce to bring the industry together and supply maritime businesses with the qualified workers they need.
