Wednesday 13 March 2019 4:09 pm | Updated: Monday 03 June 2019 12:34 am

All at sea: To save the maritime sector from a no-deal Brexit we must extend Article 50

As the representative body for the UK’s maritime sector, we find ourselves yet again having to respond to parliament failing to provide the certainty and clarity that our country needs.

It really is worth restating that we are just 16 days away from the UK’s scheduled departure from the European Union.

It is hugely damaging that we find ourselves just over two weeks away from departing a political and economic union in which we’ve been a member for forty years with absolutely no clarity or certainty about what happens next.

Even if today’s vote had gone the other way, there would not have been time to make the necessary arrangements to ensure an orderly withdrawal on 29 March

But more alarmingly, in the event of no-deal, we are simply not ready. The freight industry, for instance, that work hand-in-glove with the maritime sector have made clear that there are not enough ‘intermediaries’ to handle the increase in customs and other processes required if EU trade were to be subject to such arrangements.

Manufacturers, including automotive, have made equally clear that without a deal we will see disruption to the complex pan-European supply chains our manufacturers rely on.

We anticipate severe problems for our service providers who need access to the single market, numerous bureaucratic challenges such as on VAT for marine manufacturers, and deep insecurity for our workers.

That insecurity is particularly acute for our seafarers whose jobs, working conditions and training opportunities – in a word, livelihoods – are at risk.

We need a deal to maintain a mutually beneficial trade relationship between the EU and UK, who will remain amongst the largest trading partners on earth.

Whilst we have been working incredibly closely with government to prepare for and mitigate against disruption from no-deal, we have real concern that large parts of the economy are simply not ready.

There is also a form of complacency that no-deal will not occur, and understandably businesses will not invest in preparations unless strictly necessary.

Such an atmosphere is dangerous. Leaving without a deal is the legal default and nothing that happened on Tuesday night has yet changed that.

Britain’s maritime sector facilitates 95% of our imports and exports, totalling £500bn each year.

We have a responsibility to make our interests clear. Given where we are, we therefore urge MPs to reject no-deal and then support an extension to Article 50.

Doing so will at least provide some small degree of certainty. It’s incredible to think that the world’s fifth largest economy finds itself in this position.