The Secretary of State may, with the consent of the Treasury, give any person or body of persons of any description determined by him for the purposes of this section financial assistance in respect of expenses incurred or to be incurred by any such person or body in connection with the training (whether in the United Kingdom or elsewhere) of officers and ratings for service in merchant ships, including expenses incurred or to be incurred by any such person in connection with his undergoing any such training.

Assistance under this section may be given by way of a grant or a loan or otherwise; and in giving any such assistance the Secretary of State may impose such conditions as he thinks fit, including conditions requiring a grant to be repaid in specified circumstances.

This section is without prejudice to any other power of the Secretary of State to give financial assistance in connection with any such training as is mentioned in subsection (1) above.

In this section, “marine related business” means any trade, business or other activity concerned with the manufacture of, or the provision of goods and services for, or the operation or use of, ships and includes maritime educational establishments, marine classification societies, marine equipment suppliers, marine surveyors, marine and naval architects, marine insurance companies, protection and indemnity clubs, providers of maritime financial or legal services, the operators of ports and harbours and shipbrokers.