More young people will be supported to embark on a career at sea, thanks to a suite of new policies announced by Maritime Minister Nusrat Ghani this week (12 September 2019).

Speaking at a careers fair aboard the Northern Lighthouse Vessel PHAROS, the minister officially opened a £100,000 programme to boost maritime careers through 10 roadshows around the UK, funded by government.

Through the new scheme, girls aged 11 to 14 will be paired with inspiring women from the sector to teach them about the full breadth of careers available before they make their GCSE choices. This aims to get more of them into STEM subjects as they make the next step.

The Maritime Minister has also announced funding to better understand and address the skills gaps and improve careers promotion in the maritime sector, setting out today:

• £40,000 for the ‘Maritime and Me’ campaign – a new industry-led project aiming to increase and retain female talent in the maritime sector
• £300,000 for a new Maritime Skills Commission to identify existing and future skills needs of the sector, informing the training curriculum and ensuring it evolves over time
• £250,000 for a new single industry body that will raise awareness of maritime careers in schools and better coordinate their promotion sector wide

This comes as the Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledges to bring shipbuilding back to the UK and strengthen the Royal Navy, set to create thousands of jobs in the British shipping industry over the next decade.

Maritime Minister Nusrat Ghani said:

I am immensely proud of the vibrant range of jobs offered by the maritime industry, and I know that the 186,000 people who work in the sector will agree that it is a truly fantastic place to build a career.

We need to ensure this fantastic industry is fuelled with the brightest talent from across the country, and that means tapping into the potential of our diverse society and increasing the number of women working in maritime.

In doing this we will boost British standing in maritime globally, allowing us to successfully lead the charge to a bright new future for the UK.

The ‘Maritime and Me’ project will use a public campaign to show girls of all ages the fantastic range of opportunities in maritime – from jobs at sea to engineers on the shore.

It will work with WISE, a community interest organisation, to create an online quiz where girls and young women can see which roles would suit their personalities, supported by case studies of women working across different sectors, including maritime.