Shield Marine’s Sustainable Story Causes A Stir

Marine Industry Can Change Its Approach To Interiors By Adopting Shield’s Solutions

In an industry that often receives negative headlines relating to its sustainability and carbon footprint, Shield Marine Services is offering cruise ship operators the chance to change the way they view interiors projects by demonstrating the way forward at this year’s Cruise Ship Interiors Expo at Excel London.

Shield Marine spotted the opportunity to provide operators with solutions that would significantly reduce the volume of waste that typically results from refits and updates to a cruise ship’s interior.

When asked about how Shield Marine’s approach had evolved, Derek Lewry, Shield Marine Services Managing Director, offered this insight, “Over the past couple of years, we have been taking on more and more projects from the large operators to assist with the refurbishment of key ships within their fleet.  We started to have more frequent conversations about how we could deliver the project with a more sustainable focus and realised that we had a lot of experience in refurbishment, restoration, and upcycling of various interior items.  From that point, we started to focus more on how we could broaden our offering and make it a real point of difference for our customers.”

With sustainability in mind, Derek and Shield Services Group Marketing Director, David Harmer, started to plan for CSIE 2023 and look at ways in which the message could be strengthened beyond that of the service itself.

David was able to provide this background, “Derek and I were both working the CSIE 2022 event and Shield Marine had already been delivering a number of sustainable projects to clients, so the offering was already in place, but it felt like we had to do more to try a drive the message home.  Stood at the show, watching some of the wonderful stands being taken down, it became obvious that even exhibiting could generate significant waste.  It was at that moment we realised that we had to exhibit at 2023’s event in a greener fashion, that supported our offering.  The result is a stand that utilises a reusable and easily recycled cardboard backdrop and a Wilton-manufactured carpet with recycled Plastic Bottle (PET) content.  The reception desk, which demonstrates our joinery skills, is reused across events and the chairs and table have been refurbished, saved from landfill and upcycled.  In fact, the beautiful Chesterfield leather chairs, that have attracted so much attention were pulled from a skip and reupholstered by our team in Southampton.  We believe that this approach is unique and demonstrates what can be achieved.“

Day one of the show was a roaring success, and we know that day two will be the same.