16 October 2020

Shoreham Port has been shortlisted for a Maritime UK Award, it has been announced this week.

The Maritime UK Awards recognise the very best of the UK’s maritime sector, focusing on a wide range of areas including business growth, innovation, sustainability, and diversity. Shoreham Port is nominated for The Clean Maritime Operator award; one of three new Maritime UK Award categories focused on green growth and decarbonisation, comprising the Department for Transport’s Clean Maritime Awards.

The Clean Maritime Operator award will be awarded to a maritime company who have taken action to move their UK operation towards zero emissions. The finalists were announced as part of the celebration of Maritime UK Week 2020, which has been organised to shine a spotlight on the UK's maritime sector, its role and future. It follows a period where the maritime sector’s role as the fundamental enabler of trade and critical freight supplies into the country were reasserted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The winners will be announced at a live-streamed event across the world from Plymouth on 12 November 2020.

Shoreham Port’s nomination is attributed to Tony Parker, former Director of Engineering and Director of Infrastructure & Sustainability at Shoreham Port since January 2019. Tony has bought a wealth of over 40 years of expertise with him to this pioneering role, setting Shoreham Port on the path to achieve net-zero air quality emissions by 2021 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2030. Working closely with local authorities and communities, Tony has successfully reduced the Port’s reliance on fossil fuels and has driven Shoreham Port to make major strides forward in the generation and use of green energy sources.

Other initiatives include introducing low emission Gas-to-Liquid (GTL) fuel to power operational machinery, creating the Port’s LED lighting strategy, introducing electric-powered Port vehicles, and continuing to develop a biodiversity corridor as a Board Member of the Brighton and Lewes Downs Biosphere Partnership, creating strong community links with the Trust Port’s stakeholders and organisations across their city.  In addition, a water source heat pump (WSHP) will be fitted at their fully-serviced business centre Maritime House later in the year, saving 70 tonnes of carbon and damaging emissions from entering the atmosphere once installed.

Tony commented “I’m incredibly proud of the whole team here at Shoreham Port.  We have worked so hard to help drive our neighbourhood forward towards truly clean air, net-zero carbon emissions and greater biodiversity.  The entire team puts a huge amount of passion and enthusiasm into the work, so to see our efforts appreciated in this way by our fellow Maritime UK colleagues feels like a great honour.  There is always much more that can be done for our environment and this nomination will only encourage us to work ever harder to reach and exceed our sustainability targets.”

Harry Theochari, Chair of Maritime UK commented “We’re delighted to announce the finalists for the Maritime UK Awards 2020. Across all fourteen categories we can see some genuinely world-beating products, services, and operators. I’m particularly pleased to see some fantastic projects being showcased in the new Clean Maritime categories.”

Harry continued “Given the importance the sector places on getting to net zero, it is important that we celebrate the progress made on that journey and connect people together so that they can achieve more than on their own. These awards help do just that. The quality of entries this year is testament to the strength and commitment of our maritime sector to be world-class despite the most challenging of circumstances.”

Category: Announcements