Chair of Maritime Skills Commission appointed

Professor Graham Baldwin will lead the Maritime Skills Commission, which is being set up to better understand the existing and future skills needs of the industry both on land and at sea. It will aim to future proof training for the 220,100 people working in the sector, including for the 27,000 employed at ports around the country.

Starting work in the coming months, the Commission will bring together leading maritime experts to report on the changing needs of the industry, make recommendations and ensure its workforce has the talent it needs for today, the next 30 years, and beyond.

A crucial element of the review will be to look at the impacts of advances in technology for growing the maritime workforce of the future.

Professor Baldwin is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Central Lancashire and is the former Vice-Chancellor of Solent University which is home to the Warsash School of Maritime Science and Engineering.

The Maritime Skills Commission will build on the foundations laid by Maritime UK’s People and Skills Forum.

The creation of the Commission was a key recommendation in the flagship Maritime 2050 Strategy, and further detailed in the People Route Map.

The long-term plan sets an ambition for the UK to become a world leader in the move to clean maritime growth, with support for UK businesses and a targeted focus on the maritime workforce, to shape the sector over the next three decades.