Working at ABPmer means supporting clients from energy generators to NGOs, from Government agencies to port operators.

Operating in deep water through to coasts and estuaries in the UK and overseas, our teams support everything from marine renewable energy and the decarbonisation of our economy, to the future of Britain’s coastal wetlands. What you do at ABPmer plays a vital role in the future of our marine environment.

Here’s how our consultants and surveyors have supported some of the most exciting marine and coastal developments across the UK and beyond:

Helping secure consent for Scotland’s 3 GW, 200-turbine floating offshore wind farm

Our specialists collaborated with ScottishPower and Shell to deliver key elements of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for MarramWind, set to be among the world’s first large-scale commercial floating offshore wind farms.

Marine physical process specialists completed the geology, oceanography and physical process element of the EIA, considering the likely significant effects on marine physical process receptors that may arise from the construction, operation and decommissioning of the project.

ABPmer ecologists undertook a benthic characterisation study of geophysical data, helping to greatly enhance baseline understanding of the project site, and provide a robust basis for the assessment of potential impacts to habitats at the bottom of the ocean.

Our colleagues have completed EIA coastal process studies for over 30 UK offshore wind projects, playing an important part in achieving the UK Government’s target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050. They are also providing metocean support for offshore wind projects in the UK and overseas.

Supporting the perseveration of a 17th century artillery fort

Working for ABPmer means playing a vital part in both preservation and enhancement in the marine and coastal environment.

Tilbury Fort is an artillery fort on the River Thames, that protected London’s seaward approaches from 1670 until the Second World War. After travelling from an earlier version of the fort to a hill in nearby West Tilbury, Elizabeth I delivered a famous speech to her army while waiting to fight during the Spanish Armada crisis in 1588.

Our consultants and surveyors supported the development of a new management plan for the two concentric moats that surround the star-shaped fort. Undertaking a series of on-site surveys and modelling studies, they gained insight into understand how the moat system functions and how the water and salinity levels can be managed using the site’s complex, inter-connecting sluices.

The work will help English Heritage preserve the historic appearance of the moats whilst potentially enhancing the site’s biodiversity and ecological value. Such enhancement might include creating marginal wetlands areas for breeding and overwintering waterbirds.

Marine risk assessment paves the way for Shetland space rocket launches!

Marine stakeholders are often concerned with the relationship between the land and the sea, but at ABPmer, our work in the marine environment can sometimes mean looking up at the stars!

SaxaVord is a proposed Shetland Islands spaceport, expected to host up to 30 launches per year. With construction planned on the 46 square mile island of Unst, the project required a marine licence due to the potential for launch and recovery activities interacting with maritime users.

ABPmer’s maritime specialists provided marine licensing advice and a Navigational Risk Assessment (NRA); the UK’s first NRA to support marine licensing of space-based activities in UK waters. In liaison with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), the NRA covered the spaceport’s first planned activities: balloon and short-range sounding rocket launches.

Wader flocks on The Wash Snettisham, Norfolk. Courtesy RSPB

Technical advice facilitates addition to UK Tentative List of World Heritage Sites

At ABPmer, your work can be instrumental in securing the long-term protection of important coastal sites across the UK and beyond.

Our specialists were commissioned to provide technical advice and prepare the application for the expanse of coastal wetlands that runs along England’s east coast (known as ‘East Atlantic Flyway – England East Coast Wetlands’) to be nominated for the UK’s Tentative List of World Heritage Sites (WHS).

Our work demonstrated to UNESCO that the East Atlantic Flyway is of Outstanding Universal Value, providing information on the site’s social and economic values, and ecological benefits, as well as mapping and visual data presentation to assist with communication, partnership building and promoting the proposed nomination to stakeholders.

The nomination enables a full proposal to be developed, for the site to join the UNESCO World Heritage List. This will help with its long-term conservation, and with sharing the lessons of coastal adaptation at a global scale.

Influencing stakeholders in the urgent need for a new fisheries quota sharing approach

Our researchers and consultants help governments and their agencies develop the evidence base against which policy decisions are made.

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) commissioned us to deliver a report on the management challenges of fisheries operating in the North East Atlantic, where fish stocks straddle the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of coastal states as well as on the high seas.

Our report says that years of broken agreements on quota sharing for blue whiting, herring and mackerel has resulted in quotas being set above sustainable limits, threatening the long term health of these vital fish stocks. However, agreement on sustainable catches, that reflects scientific advice, is possible if the mechanisms for agreeing quotas are reformed.

If the advice in our report is taken up by coastal states, a comprehensive agreement on management and quota sharing can be achieved that is resilient to future changes in both ecosystems and politics.