The Belfast Maritime Consortium has joined Maritime UK, the umbrella body for the UK’s £46.1 billion maritime sector.
The consortium’s application for membership was unanimously approved by Maritime UK’s National Council.
The Belfast consortium secured a £33m UK government innovation grant announced in June, and is led by Artemis Technologies, who will engage fully with Maritime UK’s work programme.
Iain Percy, CEO of Artemis Technologies said that "joining Maritime UK is an important next step in developing our new advanced maritime cluster."
He continued: “Together with investment from within the consortium, the grant allows us to embark on a £60m project that will see an initial 125 research and development jobs created, leading to more than 1,000 in the region over the next 10 years.
“We believe a maritime revolution is coming which will herald a new wave of zero-emissions vessels designed to meet the global carbon challenge and see Belfast once again take the lead in the development and construction of the most advanced ships on the planet. We are incredibly excited to be part of that revolution and to maximise the opportunity this represents.”
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Ben Murray, director of Maritime UK commented: “Belfast has a rich shipbuilding heritage and access to Northern Ireland’s talented workforce in advanced manufacturing. Belfast Maritime Consortium’s membership of Maritime UK will further deepen our activity across the United Kingdom and give us access to a cluster organisation right at the cutting-edge of new innovation.”
The Belfast Maritime Consortium includes a variety of firms, local government and academia, such as Belfast Harbour, Catalyst, Invest NI, Ulster University, Belfast Met, Queen’s University, Belfast, Ards and North Down Borough Council and Belfast City Council.
Sources: Lighthouse NI
