Prior to his opening address, delivered to an invited audience of more than 100 senior representatives from the marine industry, Lord Drayson said: “Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, ships designed and built on Tyneside, Wearside and Teesside exercised a profound influence on world history, both in peacetime and in times of major conflict.

“It is fitting, therefore, that as we venture into a new century, those design skills are being given a new focus – and fresh impetus – through the establishment of the Marine Design Centre here in Newcastle upon Tyne.

“This new enterprise is a re-affirmation of the boldness and vision that has, over the centuries, helped characterise and define the North East as a powerhouse of innovation.

“The Marine Design Centre deserves to succeed; I am confident that it will do so, and I am certain that it will make a significant contribution to the economic well-being of the North East.”

The Marine Design Centre – located at Central Square South in central Newcastle and the first of its kind in the UK - has been set up as a subsidiary business of Northern Defence Industries (NDI), to which around 200 regional companies are affiliated.

In his welcome speech today, NDI Group Managing Director Trevor Harrison said: “For more than two hundred years the North East of England has been at the forefront of marine engineering innovation. The Marine Design Centre’s mission is to further develop that fine tradition and to ensure that our regional marine design companies continue to create revolutionary new concepts and deliver ground-breaking, innovative ideas from drawing-board to point of construction.

“We may no longer build ships here - but we still have the skills and the talents to design the ships of the future.

“The Marine Design Centre will service the needs of three distinct global markets – commercial shipping; oil and gas; and, of course, defence. We are privileged to be in at the start of a brand new chapter in the maritime history of this region.”

Regional Development Agency One NorthEast has partnered with NDI in the creation of the Marine Design Centre, and has provided £1.5 million in initial funding for the project.

One NorthEast Chairman, Margaret Fay OBE, in a response to Lord Drayson’s opening speech said today “The Regional Economic Strategy recognises that our economy is shifting, to one that is increasingly driven by knowledge-based industries – led by innovation, science and technology, and high-level skills like the design expertise that will be in action here.

“This centre – another first for the North East - will take the marine sector into new territory, positioning the region as a truly international leader in ship design and helping us to attract, train and keep the graduates of the future.”