UK Energy Minister Acknowledges Underwater Industry as “Hugely Important Asset” to UK and Says Global Underwater Hub will Drive its Exponential Growth

Speaking at today’s Subsea Live event, UK Energy Minister – Anne-Marie Trevelyan – said the underwater industry is a hugely important asset for the UK, creating highly skilled jobs, driving economic growth and helping to level up across the country.

She said: “This sector is a success story – its skills, expertise and technology are recognised rightly as world-leading. It is an example of a sector which grew up in the oil and gas space and is now diversifying into many other marine parts of the economy, creating companies which are already playing a significant role in the development of offshore wind.

“And now, with plans for a Global Underwater Hub, backed by the UK Government, there is enormous potential for the UK’s underwater engineering capability and capacity to grow exponentially.”

Subsea UK, organisers of Subsea Live, used the platform to further outline the plans for the Global Underwater Hub, which will be officially launched later this year.

Chief executive of Subsea UK, Neil Gordon, said: “We are embarking on new era of support for the subsea industry and for our members. This journey will see Subsea UK transition into the Global Underwater Hub later this year, creating a new, strategic industry body which will span the length and breadth of the UK.

“The vision is to transform the globally competitive underwater sector in the UK, to accelerate the transition to net zero, drive innovation and growth and make a step change in the development and internationalisation of underwater technology and services.”

“Driven and led by industry, with funding from government, the Global Underwater Hub will build on Subsea UK’s rich heritage and depth of knowledge, contacts and services to help connect and grow the value that exists in all businesses and organisations involved in the underwater space.”

A strategically focused, intelligence-led organisation, the Global Underwater Hub will provide companies operating in the underwater space with the market information, connections, access and specialist expertise they need to capitalise on the opportunities presented by the energy transition and the blue economy.

It will do this by supporting businesses to compete successfully in the global underwater markets, providing more businesses with in-depth insight, market intelligence and information, helping them scale up and grow. This will in turn strengthen the UK’s globally leading position in subsea and increase marketshare across all sectors from oil and gas to offshore floating wind and from defence to aquaculture.

Read the latest issue of the OGV Energy magazine HERE.