A sea-change for seafarers as the shipping industry gears up to decarbonize

But there is growing concern that the industry’s workforce of 2 million seafarers, most of whom come from the Global South, risk being left behind if they cannot be trained in relevant new skills. Critically, this includes learning how to handle new fuels: ammonia, in particular, is hazardous and could pose a safety risk to seafarers, ships and the wider environment if crew and port workers are not trained properly. Modelling by Lloyds Register and University Maritime Advisory Services found that 450,000 seafarers will require some additional training by 2030, and 800,000 will need training by the mid 2030s, assuming a ramp-up of alternative fuels this decade…Darian McBain is founder of consultancy Outsourced Chief Sustainability Officer and former global director of corporate affairs and sustainability for Thai Union. She says the maritime economy is lagging other sectors in green skills development.

Just Transition Task Force, opens new tab, an organisation set up at COP26 in Glasgow in 2021 to “ensure that shipping’s response to the climate emergency puts seafarers at the heart of the solution”… One of the members of the advisory committee is the European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA). Sotiris Raptis, its secretary-general, explains that the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) has not been updated since 2010 and is due to be revised. ECSA is working with the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) and the European Commission to launch an EU Maritime Skills Forum that can feed back to the IMO on what is missing from STCW courses….“

In an attempt to get ahead of the game, the ETF and ECSA launched SkillSea, a platform of seven educational packages, two of which focus on green skills while two are about digital skills. Out of SkillSea, which ran for five years until 2023, has emerged the Maritime Education and Training Network (Met-Net) to address future skills needs in the sector… “When you think about shipping, it’s often ‘out at sea, out of mind’, but the vast majority of the investment needed to make shipping sustainable will take place on land, producing sustainable fuels.”… .

McBain says skills development in the maritime sector has not had enough international focus. “People still don’t see the maritime industry as part of the solution” to climate change, says McBain. “The focus is on green rather than blue. Only countries with a strong ocean border think about it today, but everyone must contribute and there will be increased demand in future for blue skills.