All at sea? Not necessarily! As a collection of islands with a coastline of over 11,000 miles, you would expect marine and maritime to feature strongly in our economy and it does! Estimates suggest it contributes over £50 billion per year and employs directly or supports jobs for over 1 million people. But what do those 1 million people do? We take a snapshot of the range of careers available including the large number that are available on-shore.
Maritime UK is the umbrella body for the maritime sector. They work alongside the shipping, ports, services, engineering and leisure marine industries to champion and enable a thriving maritime sector. Here’s our taster of the areas they cover. Ports & Harbours Every year, 65 million passengers and 500 million tonnes of cargo, which is around 95 per cent of the UK’s total imports and exports, move through UK ports. To do this, we require everything from deepwater container ports to small harbours, supporting all kinds of vessels: oil and gas tankers, ferry and cruise ships, and every kind of commercial, military and leisure ships. Maritime land-based jobs will therefore include a wide range of skills, including engineering, warehousing, transport, planning, 4
Make The Future Yours! Issue 3
safety, security, and a host of other business areas. New apprenticeships and qualifications cover many of these areas. Merchant Navy The Merchant Navy is the collective term for our commercial shipping and includes a variety of vessels from cruise ships to tankers and cargo ships. It is a technologically advanced industry which requires highly trained seafarers working across navigation, engineering, electro-technical and on-board services disciplines. There are a variety of entry routes available to start a career at sea within the Merchant Navy, which includes fully sponsored training programmes and apprenticeships. UK seafarers are sought after all across the world and the range of skills they acquire during their training enables them to thrive in a competitive industry.
