28
Jan 22

Weekly Bulletin

The issues and complexities with the government’s travel restrictions has been a major issue for the Chamber and our members over the last 22 months. But this week felt like a major moment as the government announced the easing of restrictions, bringing travel back towards near normality for fully-vaccinated people. There are however issues which need resolving. There are still barriers and liabilities for ferry operators which weren’t there before Covid and we need to see a roadmap from the government to ensure passengers can enjoy fast and efficient travel, without unnecessary burdens placed on the operators. We will be looking for clarity and consistency from HMG in the coming weeks to enable this to happen.

At the Chamber this week we held our Future of Officer Recruitment and Training workshop, the first stage in the development of a clear Chamber policy position on the recruitment and training of UK seafarers. It was incredibly well attended and we were really encouraged by the quality of the feedback. I would like to thank all the members who attended, as well as MCA CEO Brian Johnson for opening the day’s proceedings. Our Policy Director Tim Springett will be pulling together the work from the session but if you have any further thoughts or suggestions please do get in touch.

Yesterday I was delighted to attend the Maritime UK Women in Maritime network session, shining a light on the vital role women play across the shipping and maritime sector. I was pleased to share my story and I’d like to pay tribute to Chrissie Clarke for her ongoing work with the network and with the development of the Women in Maritime Pledge, which you can read more about here.