{"id":285157,"date":"2025-09-16T16:33:57","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T06:33:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldcargonews.com\/?p=85796"},"modified":"2025-09-16T16:33:57","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T06:33:57","slug":"liverpool-hosts-landmark-shipping-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=285157","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool hosts landmark shipping summit"},"content":{"rendered":"

The city and port of Liverpool has strengthened its bid to become the UK\u2019s leading net zero maritime cluster. The north west coast of England port made the claim after hosting the first London International Shipping Week (LISW) event ever held outside London.<\/strong>
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Industry, government and academic leaders gathered at the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority\u2019s Mann Island headquarters yesterday (Monday, 15 September), on the first day of LISW. The region highlighted its growth, innovation and ambitions for clean maritime leadership.<\/p>\n

Maritime sector growth under the spotlight<\/h2>\n

Delegates were told that, between 2010 and 2020, the Liverpool City Region\u2019s maritime output grew by 181 per cent, underpinned by investment in port infrastructure, skills and innovation. The sector now supports more than 48,000 jobs locally, with productivity 65 per cent above the national average.<\/p>\n

As the UK\u2019s principal west-facing port, Liverpool handles nearly half of all UK\u2013US trade and generates around \u00a35bn in annual economic output. The summit aimed to showcase the city region\u2019s strengths and explore investment priorities for the next phase of maritime development.<\/p>\n

Ministerial backing for Liverpool role<\/h2>\n

The meeting was opened by Maritime Minister Keir Mather, who emphasised Liverpool\u2019s strategic importance to the UK\u2019s national maritime strategy. He highlighted its role as a transatlantic gateway, its alignment with net zero targets, and its potential to deliver regional growth through sustainable shipping and logistics.<\/p>\n

Recent milestones include \u00a31.5m in Freeport funding to accelerate decarbonisation and digitalisation of freight systems. Liverpool is also host to the UK\u2019s first doctoral training centre in maritime decarbonisation, established jointly by the University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University. Tangible developments include the construction of a hybrid-ready Mersey Ferry by Cammell Laird.<\/p>\n

Local leaders make the case<\/h2>\n

Hosting a London International Shipping Week session for the first time beyond the capital was presented as recognition of Liverpool\u2019s growing influence in maritime trade, innovation and decarbonisation. Councillor Mike Wharton, Liverpool City Region\u2019s Deputy Mayor, told delegates the region was positioning itself at the forefront of the UK\u2019s clean maritime transition. \u201cLiverpool has always been a gateway to the world,\u201d he said. \u201cOur city region is also a gateway to the future, where clean growth, smart technology and skilled people are shaping a new maritime economy for the UK and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Cllr Wharton, Keir Mather MP, Richard McGuckin – image Liverpool City Region Combined Authority<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Combined Authority used the summit to highlight major regional initiatives. Councillor Mike Wharton, Deputy Mayor, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Maritime Minister Keir Mather MP, Richard McGuckin, Deputy Chief Executive, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority (pictured left to right), jointly endorsed a statement, that noted the integration of Freeport and Investment Zone programmes under the Liverpool City Region Innovation Zone, was recently cited in the UK Government\u2019s Industrial Strategy Zones Action Plan as national best practice.<\/p>\n

Decarbonisation and innovation initiatives<\/h2>\n

Looking ahead, the region\u2019s leaders set out a series of priorities to sustain growth. These include investment in transport infrastructure to ease road bottlenecks and improve multimodal freight connectivity; targeted expansion of maritime skills training, especially in marine engineering and ship repair; and streamlined planning and customs processes to enhance competitiveness.<\/p>\n

Officials also underlined ambitions to promote Liverpool City Region as the UK\u2019s gateway for transatlantic trade and innovation, leveraging the Port of Liverpool\u2019s role as the country\u2019s fourth-busiest container gateway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The city and port of Liverpool has strengthened its bid to become the UK\u2019s leading net zero maritime cluster.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18155,2305,18156,18157,2366,18158,18159,11215,12339],"tags":[12159],"class_list":["post-285157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-councillor-mike-wharton","category-environment","category-keir-mather-mp","category-lisw","category-liverpool","category-liverpool-city-region","category-london-international-shipping-week","category-port-of-liverpool","category-ports-terminals","tag-world-cargo-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=285157"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":286085,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285157\/revisions\/286085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=285157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=285157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=285157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}