This decree was part of ambitious plans set out by UK Maritime Minister, Nusrat Ghani, to cut pollution from the country’s maritime sector in a Clean Maritime Plan published this week.
The UK government is also looking at ways to incentivise the transition to zero-emission shipping and will consult on this next year.
A £1 mill competition will be launched to find innovative ways to reduce maritime emissions and is published alongside a call for evidence to reduce emissions on UK waterways and domestic vessels.
The Clean Maritime Plan is part of the Government’s Clean Air Strategy, which aims to cut down air pollution across all sectors to protect public health and the environment. It will also help deliver the UK’s commitment to be net zero on greenhouse gases by 2050.
Minister Ghani said: “Our maritime sector is vital to the success of the UK’s economy, but it must do everything it can to reduce emissions, improve air quality and tackle climate change.
“The Clean Maritime Plan sets an ambitious vision for the sector and opens up exciting opportunities for innovation. It will help make the UK a global hub for new green technologies in the maritime sector,” she said.
Sarah Kenny, BMT Group CEO and representing the MaRi-UK consortium, said: “The Clean Maritime Plan is an important step towards achieving a zero-emission future for the UK.
“Getting to net zero will not be easy, but it will present significant opportunities, as well as the obvious challenges for all parts of our £40 bill maritime sector. Maritime is already the greenest way of moving freight, but we can and must do more to reduce emissions.
“The good news is that the UK is well-placed to not only de-carbonise our own economy, but also to share our expertise and capability with the rest of the world, as they, too, embark on this most global of missions.
“For the first time, companies and universities from across the country have come together to collaborate through MarRI-UK, accelerating the UK’s maritime technological capabilities, particularly on de-carbonisation.
“The key ingredient to realising our clean maritime ambitions is collaboration between companies, academia and with government. Today’s plan and government’s broader Maritime 2050 strategy, crafted with Maritime UK, provides a framework to do just that,” she said.
Guidance has also been issued to ports to assist them in developing air quality strategies. This will both address their own operations and support improving air quality across the country.
A further consultation to increase the uptake of low carbon fuels will take place next year.
The Clean Maritime Plan is part of the government’s Maritime 2050, a long-term strategy published in January, 2019 to keep the UK as a world leader in the maritime sector for decades to come.