ABPmer maps the value of shipping

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is responsible for preparing marine plans in England. Marine plans guide those who use and regulate the marine area to encourage sustainable development while considering the environment, economy and society.

This new mapping will help underpin the development of port and shipping marine plan policies, and how such policies are considered alongside other users of marine space. It is also expected that these mapping methods will give the MMO a means to develop their evidence base.

Chris Jackson Head of Data Services at ABPmer said; “This is an exciting project for ABPmer to be engaged in and we are delighted to be working with the MMO to develop a methodology to meets their needs.

“We will start with a temporally referenced spatial dataset of shipping activity across a single marine plan area. Next, we will identify, evaluate and source relevant data to determine trade value. We will then combine the results of the value exercise with the spatial data to create maps showing the value of shipping to specific geographic areas.”

Stakeholder engagement will be important to the pilot study, to ensure that the outputs can be used to underpin or justify marine planning decisions. There will therefore be consultation on the approach taken as well as a validation exercise of the data layers themselves.

The project results are expected in the summer.

ABPmer is a recognised specialist in creating data-driven support tools for decision-making and has an established track record in undertaking strategic marine planning studies for the MMO and other regulators. The company also enjoys detailed knowledge of the UK ports and shipping sector.

Vivid Economics will be providing economics analysis support to ABPmer as a subconsultant.