MARITIME UK SOLENT MARITIME ESLENT HM GOV 1: UK The RAF’s Red Arrows display team fly over Cunard’s ‘Three Queens’, Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria, in the Solent. The three iconic vessels made a rare appearance together at Cunard’s home port of Southampton to celebrate the company’s 175th anniversary. Picture by Christopher Ison, courtesy of Cunard Introducing Maritime UK Solent The Solent has 340 miles of coastline, three islands and three peninsulas, two major international gateway ports, world-leading research and training institutions, and a rich maritime heritage. All of this drives a powerful £5.5bn maritime economy and makes the Solent the beating heart of the world’s marine and maritime sector. To ensure our array of maritime assets are harnessed and promoted, and that the area continues to be at the forefront of pioneering developments in the sector, the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) is establishing a new business-led body – Maritime UK Solent. Through Maritime UK Solent we will convene the area’s key maritime stakeholders to champion the Solent as the leading maritime cluster, developing international links through representation at targeted maritime events and trade missions. It will bring the sector together through regular events to improve integration, knowledge exchange, and supply chain links. Through strong ties with both the Solent LEP and Maritime UK, Maritime UK Solent members will help to shape the future direction of the sector.  We are opening an invitation for founding members to help us champion and underscore the Solent’s position as the global maritime hub – and in this booklet we showcase a selection of our enviable maritime assets. 2 3 Port of Southampton: powerhouse of international trade 1 The Port of Southampton is the UK’s biggest export port, handling more than £40 billion of British manufactured goods each year, with 90% exported outside of the EU. It is also the UK’s prime automotive hub, handling 900,000 vehicles per year, and the largest and leading turn-around cruise port in the UK, welcoming more than two million passengers a year. Many of these are iconic ocean liners such as Queen Mary 2 – making Southampton Europe’s cruise capital. Every cruise that embarks or disembarks at the port is estimated to generate more than £2.4 million for the local economy. The Port’s location and infrastructure are ideally suited to growing a strong, well connected maritime industrial cluster that creates jobs and boosts productivity. Port of Southampton 4 5 2 Portsmouth International Port: the UK’s most successful municipal port Portsmouth International Port is perfectly positioned for ferries, cruise and freight. It is Britain’s best-connected ferry port with easy access, offering more routes to France, Spain and the Channel Islands than any other UK port. It is also a growing cruise port. It handles 7.1m domestic passengers, 1.8m international passengers, and 250,000 freight movements annually. Portsmouth is also a dynamic commercial port, importing 70% of the bananas eaten in the UK, while new investment is seeing the Port diversify and grow – exciting times. Picture courtesy of Portsmouth City Council 6 7 3 National Oceanography Centre: big science to tackle global challenges We host one of the world’s top centres of excellence for oceanographic sciences, providing the international capability and leadership for the challenges and opportunities of big ocean science. Working closely with government, research centres of excellence and business, the National Oceanography Centre undertakes world-leading innovation turning great science and technology into advice and applications. 8 9 Clean growth: offshore wind turbine blade manufacture 4 The UK’s offshore wind sector has grown significantly over the past 15 years and is a key strand of the government’s industrial strategy for the future. Here in the Solent, the Isle of Wight is the UK base of the global renewable energy player MHI Vestas Offshore Wind, which has ambitious expansion plans in line with the growth of sustainable power generation. Turbines are made up of different components manufactured separately and assembled at the installation site. MHI Vestas manufactures the blades on the IoW, served in part by a local supply chain. 10 11 5 Leisure marine: a global epicentre The leisure marine sector in the south east of England is worth almost £1 billion and supports 8,500 jobs, with most of its activity concentrated in the Solent. Southampton and Portsmouth both host internationally recognised events, including Southampton Boat Show and long-distance sailing races. Cowes on the Isle of Wight welcomes the world's racing yachts, and throughout the year the Solent is filled with leisure boats and thrill-seekers enjoying all kinds of watersports. 12 Cowes Week, the world famous regatta on the Isle of Wight 13 6 Portsmouth Naval Base: innovation in maritime engineering Portsmouth, home of the Royal Navy, is the centre of a highly innovative maritime defence cluster that provides 20,000 jobs across the Solent and contributes more than £1.6 billion a year to the regional economy. It is the home port of HMS Queen Elizabeth, Britain's flagship aircraft carrier, and underpins a vast supply chain of companies specialising in marine engineering and related services. 14 15 7 Natural environment: coastal geography Our 340 miles of world-class coastline underpins not only our marine and maritime activity and wider economy but our overall quality of life. Our coastal geography, connected cities and beautiful countryside are uniquely precious assets attracting people who want to have a high quality of life, and businesses that seek the space and talent to grow. 16 The Needles, Isle of Wight 17 8 Mobility and the data economy: autonomous systems A world leader in marine engineering, the Solent continues to innovate in areas such as autonomous marine vessel systems. These will become ever more prevalent in marine operations worldwide as technology continues to develop. Port authorities, stevedores and other private companies are among the many organisations testing and deploying specialist autonomous systems developed here, in the Solent. The Solent is a hub of autonomous systems R&D, across land, air and sea. This includes one of the world’s leading autonomous systems research groups at the University of Southampton, the Marine Robotics Innovation Centre at the National Oceanography Centre and a number of private sector companies based in the region. Scenes on the Solent: Three Dstl owned vessels operated in unison. Since 2014, ASV (now L3 Technology) and Dstl have collaborated to develop Unmanned Surface Vehicles which support new concepts for the Royal Navy and act as a testbed for innovative technologies. Picture courtesy of Dstl and L3Harris 18 19 9 Premier destination for research: commercialising ideas The Solent is home to three universities: the University of Portsmouth; the University of Southampton, and Solent University. University research in the Solent is increasingly being translated into jobs, especially in life sciences, engineering, aerospace, advanced manufacturing and clean tech. The Southampton Marine & Maritime Institute constitutes a world-class, authoritative, independent expertise, spanning both the marine and maritime sectors. They foster new research collaborations, educate the next generation of maritime leaders, and generate knowledge and intelligence for businesses of all sizes, government at all scales and organisations of all kinds. 20 Resistance testing undertaken by the University of Southampton’s Wolfson Unit on an 80m semidisplacement motor yacht 21 10 Skills base: thriving talent pool Sir Ben Ainslie’s second America's Cup campaign, headquartered at the Camber Docks, Portsmouth, is now fully funded by Anglo-Swiss company INEOS, While we are rooted in naval history and sea trade over many centuries, we look to the future. Our region boasts exceptionally creative and innovative people working in all kinds of businesses and organisations. For example, many software development companies are making the Solent their home, accelerating growth and attracting a skilled, expert workforce of ‘digital nomads’. We have a wealth of talent, continually bolstered by newcomers from all horizons. We seek further opportunities for growth and the potential to attract and retain more people. We are linking our maritime business to schools, through bespoke careers programmes, and investing in world-class training centres such as the Centre of Excellence for Composites, Advance Manufacturing and Marine (CECAMM), to ensure the sector continues to have a pool of exceptional talent. 22 23 World class training: leading the world in maritime training 11 Solent University’s Warsash School of Maritime Science and Engineering has provided first-class education, training, consultancy and research services to the international shipping, commercial yacht and offshore oil and gas industries for more than 70 years. Building on the exceptional reputation and high standards of the historic Warsash Maritime Academy, Solent is the world’s premier maritime education and training provider, and part of a prestigious innovation hub. Along with ground-breaking maritime research, the university provides high quality education and training to meet the maritime industries’ growing international demand for crew, officers and captains who are trained to the highest professional standards. A bridge simulator at Solent University 24 Navigation, marine engineer and marine electro-technical officers benefit from internationally recognised certification programmes, from initial entry as an officer cadet up to Master (Captain) and Chief Engineer level. 25 12 £77.5bn Visitor economy: scope for growth The Solent’s visitor economy is worth more than £3 billion and supports more than 60,000 jobs in hospitality, retail and related sectors. Given the draw of the Isle of Wight, our National Park, key visitor attractions, coastline, marine heritage assets and proximity to London, there is scope for significant growth in this sector. £42.8bn worth of goods for import and export through Solent ports of exports, of which 85% are to non-EU countries 2 million cruise passenger movements from Southampton p.a. £20bn £5.5bn Which equates to... GVA contributions to UK GDP GVA to Solent economy in 2015 one fifth of Solent LEP economy £680m 120,000 HMS Victory, based in Portsmouth, was Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson’s flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar and one of the UK’s most-loved visitor attractions jobs linked to the maritime sector £459 million direct contribution to the Exchequer value of maritime goods and services Be part of the Solent’s success through Maritime UK Solent. Let’s work jointly with all maritime related organisations based in the Solent, so that we can strengthen all that we do to build an even stronger, renowned national and international global gateway. To express your interest in being part of Maritime UK Solent, please email MUKSolent@SolentLEP.org.uk or call us on 023 9268 8924