Tuesday, 2 July 2024

Seafarer training

 A changing scene

In a previous article I wrote on the way that technology has changed the nature of shipping and brought new demands for training. Now we face a new technological challenge in the form of digitalisation and decarboniisation for shipping[1] and this will lead to new demands for training of seafarers.

Where should that training come from?

The International Maritime Organisation has always set the “minimum safety standards” for the operationf of ships under its conventions, particularly the four main conventions:

1.       The Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention,

2.       The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL),

3.       The Convention for Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping for Seafarers

4.       The Maritime Labor Convention.

Ratified by maritime nations it is left to the individual Maritime national authorities to implement and enforce the conventions. Maritime training institutions offer courses in compliance with the IMO conventions. IMO vets and monitors compliance with these standards but it is left to the national maritime authority to enforce them.

Another way that standards are monitored is throught Port State Control. This an inspection service of a maritime nation to check that foreign ships visiting their ports meet the standards set by IMO under its conventions. It is in recognition that not all flag states registering ships maintain these minimum standards of compliance. This has been particualr concern over some “flags of convenience"

It is a truism that technological change often precedes the demand for training to meet the technological challenge and the maritime sector is no exception. Whilst IMO provides the regulatory framework in which training is formed and some training guidelines it is the industry through classification socieiteis and national maritime training organisations that develop and implement training.

This has led to concern over the ability of the industry to keep pace with training requirements. The seminal report by the WMU[2] highlights the challenge.

One example provided within this report’s many valuable case studies, is of ferry workers who are expected to know how to safely charge and discharge a new battery system fitted on board their vessel. However, they find their training institution unable to keep up with the technological advances and its faculty unable to offer training courses on the new equipment’s safe use. Furthermore, the workers felt under such pressure to make sailing schedules that they didn’t have enough time to familiarize themselves with the new equipment.[3]

An upgrade of the global maritime training sector seems necessary.


A DNV report survey of seafarers showed[4][5]

that particularly officers felt they needed more training to meet the coming technological challenge and that the current IMO STCW training was insufficient to meet their needs.


For the two most urgent technological demands, digitalisation and decarbonisation there is a clear need for better IMO  based courses and the overall seafaring training model  embedded in MET (Maritime education and training) offered by academic and training institutions needs to adapt to these changing demands but remain based on general maritime subjects leaving the specialised technology training to training centres and operators.[6]

Looking further ahead, the automation of ships is leading to fully unmanned vessels operated by remote assistance from shore-based service centres. This will have a huge effect on manning and control of ships.[7]

MASS(Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships) has been the subject of scrutiny by IMO for some time and have highlighted 4 degrees of autonomy from shipboard seafarers controlling the use of automation to rmotely operated vessels without shipboard staff.[8]

Clearly the training demand will vary substantially and add further pressure for a revitalised education and training regime.



[1] ‘DNV_Future_of_Seafarers_Report_web (1).Pdf’.

[2] World Maritime University et al., ‘Transport 2040’.

[3] World Maritime University et al.  page 8

[4] ‘DNV_Future_of_Seafarers_Report_web (1).Pdf’. Page 38 and page 40

[5] ‘Course - Ship Technology - TN203511 - NTNU’.

[6] ‘DNV_Future_of_Seafarers_Report_web (1).Pdf’. page 42

[7] World Maritime University, ‘Transport 2040’. Page 52

[8] ‘Autonomous Shipping’.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Lets see what you think!

Senior Travel revisited

  On a package charter flight You would think that as you get older it would be easy to travel abroad, especially if you spent a large par...