EC-FUNDED maritime research projects worth almost EUR 50 million (£41 million) are to be launched next week under the ‘ocean of tomorrow’ initiative.

Maria Damanaki, the EC commissioner responsible for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, spoke of the projects at the first Global Maritime Environmental Congress in Hamburg yesterday.

In a speech title ‘The Integrated Maritime Policy as a catalyst for sustainable economic development for the EU maritime industry’, she said: “The Commission has highlighted the maritime economy as a key area capable of steering us out of the [global financial] doldrums and delivering smart, sustainable growth. This thinking has fed into the plan we now have to take us forward: the Europe2020 Strategy for smart, green and inclusive growth.

“The EU has identified ‘blue growth’ as a major priority for our Integrated Maritime Policy, with an emphasis on sustainable growth, employment and innovation. Our focus will be on playing to our strengths, while at the same time pinpointing new sources of real growth. This will mean identifying the untapped future potential of cutting-edge marine and maritime technologies, resources and services as drivers for innovation, competitiveness and, ultimately, growth and jobs.

“We are well on the way to doing this, as one telling example will show. We all know by now the benefits that maritime spatial planning can bring. What we haven't done is translate these benefits into figures.

“A recent independent study for the Commission has found that just reducing transaction costs, research, legal and administrative costs by Maritime Spatial Planning, by 1 per cent it could generate between EUR 170 million and EUR 1.3 billion by 2020 depending on the level of conflicts of interest we have to face. And that's not all. If Maritime Spatial Planning can speed up investment in wind farms and aquaculture by one to three years, a further EUR 60 to EUR 600 million could be generated by 2020. Of course, these are only assumptions. Even so this should spur us on to reach ever greater heights.

“Technological advances and innovation could bring huge benefits to industry and society as a whole on a lot of fronts. To take shipping as a first example, technology at the service of clean and energy-efficient ships, including sky-sails, alternative fuels and shore-side electricity supply, is a promising avenue to explore further. Green shipping is what we must aim at. The German shipbuilding industry, number one in Europe, has again set an example for us. How did this happen? By concentrating more on manufacturing high-quality specialised vessels and investing in research and development.

“In tapping into the oceans’ vast resources we must act responsibly and remember our duty as custodians of the planet. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has taught us a bitter lesson on that score. Only by exploiting the Earth’s resources sustainably can we secure lasting benefits for mankind. The potential benefit from our oceans is huge. The deep sea contains a wealth of largely undiscovered forms of life. Marine resources could be used for or inspire blue biotech developments. The Commission’s upcoming Marine Knowledge 2020 proposal will seek to tackle some of these challenges by broadening our knowledge and making data more accessible and less costly for marine data users.

“Sustainability and greener policy-making also lie at the heart of current work to reform our Common Fisheries Policy.

“So the last step we must take is to dovetail maritime policy-making with the EU mainstream policy process, so that maritime policy makes the right contribution to the Europe2020 strategy and can use EU funding wherever possible to achieve its aims. Let me give here an example: next week we are going to launch research projects at almost EUR 50 million for 2011 by EU funding in the call ‘ocean of tomorrow’.

“The EU’s Integrated Maritime Policy is here to help and I am personally ready to take whatever steps are necessary to ensure seamless coordination between EU, national and regional action on this.”