UK pushed on offshore immigration

Offshore Marine Management (OMM) has called on the UK government to ensure that rules are in place for effective movement of personnel in the renewables industry before making a deal on Brexit. 

Effective movement of workers should be backed by communications to secure a stable base of qualified staff that has the ability to continue to move freely within Europe, OMM said. 

“Without this, due to the increase of paperwork, there will be a reduction of personnel which will see a bottleneck in the availability of UK workers in EU waters and vice versa. Any reduction could see daily rates of personnel skyrocket,” it added.

The call comes after the Home Office announced a concession to the immigration rules to allow the employment of non-European Economic Area nationals who are joining vessels engaged in the construction and maintenance of offshore wind projects in UK territorial waters. 

The concession ends on 21 October.

OMM director Rob Grimmond said: “It’s vital that the government talk to the industry to get a real picture of what is at threat for the renewables industry, especially offshore wind and marine energy, if the movement of people is limited.

An increase in certification paired with restricted movement costs time and money to both the UK and the EU economy. 

“Our trained and experienced workers look to be missing out on opportunities because of the potential delays in installation caused by a lack of free moving and qualified workforce who are then unable to provide a full crew to these costly installation vessels.”

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