Clyde Mission Maritime Opportunities

Clyde Mission is a Scottish Government led placemaking programme utilising a mission-based approach with the grand challenge to ‘Make the Clyde an engine of inclusive and sustainable growth for the city, the region and Scotland.’ The Clyde has a very strong maritime heritage, some of which remains today, so it is considered important that future opportunities, where the maritime sector can be internationally competitive, should be identified. This report was commissioned by Scottish Enterprise on behalf of Clyde Mission.

The methodology consisted of a) Desk research to characterise global markets, assess the industry base, assets and infrastructure in the Clyde Mission area and evaluate maritime clusters elsewhere. b) Primary research with relevant companies, stakeholders and clusters elsewhere to understand the potential for development of the maritime sector in the Clyde area.

The report highlights global maritime growth markets and presents local market opportunities. The scale and capacity of the maritime sector on the Clyde and its ability to access these opportunities is assessed. It finds that there are opportunities for Clyde-based businesses in a range of areas, including: Defence shipbuilding, Commercial shipbuilding, Ship repair and maintenance, Ship management, Low Carbon/ Smart Ports, Supply Chain for HMNB Faslane, Offshore Wind, Offshore Wind Decommissioning, Marine Tourism, Water Sourced Zero Emissions Heating Systems, and Maritime training. The analysis highlights attractive features within all opportunities but recognises different scales of challenges to address to exploit the opportunities and different expected economic impacts and timescales to impact. Five maritime clusters were assessed to identify best practice, and key transferable lessons for the Clyde are identified.

The report proposes actions that have the potential to develop the maritime sector on the Clyde. It provides a basis for engagement between relevant stakeholders to work together to further assess these opportunities.