The European continent is essentially a maritime continent. The EU coastline is 68.000km long. The EU is home to 23 coastal states and 27 flag states. While the economic climate has been challenging, the EU’s blue economy is strong with a turnover of some €658 billion and a workforce of more than four million people. The maritime sector’s importance spans several key EU policy areas including transport, environment and oceans, energy, internal market, and neighbourhood and enlargement (EMSA).
‘Maritime’ is variably defined broadly as ‘of or relating to the sea’. With regard to commercial shipping, the maritime sector consists of shipbuilding, shipping, ports, marine and maritime business services industries, each of which comprise a diverse array of activities. This can be extended to the naval defence industry, offshore wind, offshore oil & gas and offshore construction. Considering recreational shipping, the maritime sector covers yacht and boat building, marinas, watersports and related services with significant contributions to coastal tourism. A further segment is related to everything coming off the sea, thus to marine resources and the marine ecosystem. This includes
fishing and offshore aquaculture as well as the use of marine resources like algae and seaweed and environmental monitoring.
This sectorial catalogue shall provide companies and business advisors with relevant practical sectorspecific information on potential actions for circular transition of the maritime industries and services
sector. The main focus is on commercial shipping, but also specific contents related to recreational shipping and marine resources are included.