Maritime
As an island nation the UK has traditionally been a leading player in the global maritime industry.
Maritime
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The maritime industry is critical to the UK economy with approximately 95% of all imports and exports transported by sea, including 25% of the UK’s energy supply, and 48% of the country’s food supplies. Maritime business services directly contribute £2 billion gross value added (GVA) to the UK economy; this is expanded to £5 billion GVA if the wider impacts of the sector are considered.
In addition to freight and goods movements the UK has a significant maritime tourism and leisure industry which was valued at £3.12 billion in 2017. The UK has a thriving and growing cruise sector with 1.96 million cruises sold in the UK in 2017, half of which started at a British port.
The UK is also a world leader in maritime services such as insurance, regulation and certification with London being the global hub for all such services.
Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition
To celebrate the success of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition, Innovate UK Business Connect, on behalf of the Department for Transport and Innovate UK, has collated a series of videos into an online showcase highlighting all the innovative projects winning a share of the £23m funding. These projects represent some of the best examples of UK organisations being world leaders in clean smart maritime technologies of the future which will springboard the UK maritime sector’s transition towards Net Zero.
Browse the videos here.
Related Opportunities
Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition 6
Opens: 24/01/2025 Closes: 16/04/2025
UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £30m for innovative Smart Shipping technologies, clean maritime technologies, and skills for maritime decarbonisation.
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Launchpad: net zero industry, Southwest Wales – Rd2 CR&D
Opens: 24/02/2025 Closes: 09/04/2025
UK businesses can apply for a share of up to £2.9m for business led projects that grow their innovation activities in the net zero industrial cluster in Southwest Wales.
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European Space Agency: Maritime Decarbonisation - Green Fuels
Opens: 21/03/2025 Closes: 16/05/2025
ESA seeks to develop new space-based services that support the decarbonisation of the maritime sector, with a focus on green fuels and green propulsion systems.
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Innovation Exchange challenge: Efficient Grease Removal for Safer Offshore Wind Operations
Opens: 17/03/2025 Closes: 12/05/2025
Seeking solutions for the wind energy industry’s operational challenge to remove used grease effectively from mechanical components.
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Innovate UK innovation loans future economy: Round 20
Opens: 06/03/2025 Closes: 07/05/2025
UK registered businesses can apply for loans for innovative projects with strong commercial potential to significantly improve the UK economy.
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Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP): 2025 – 2026 Round 1
Opens: 17/02/2025 Closes: 09/04/2025
UK registered academic institutions, RTOs or Catapults, working with businesses or not for profits, can apply for a share of up to £9m.