How digitalisation has transformed what seafarers are expected to manage onboard

Each new system, reporting requirement, and regulatory framework has added incrementally to what crews are expected to manage, and the pace of change is not slowing. This insight looks at how the digitalisation of vessel operations has expanded the demands placed on seafarers, and why the gap between what certification prepares crews for and what they face onboard has widened as a result.

The operational reality onboard vessels has changed over the past decade. Digital tools have developed to support seafarers by providing improved visibility, lessening manual tasks, enabling better access to operational information, and enabling regulatory compliance.

Capt. Abhijit Arvind Mohite, HSSE Manager at a tanker operator and former Master Mariner, noted that gathering data is no longer the biggest challenge. “There is enough data available, but it is up to the user how to interpret it. The interpretation is a challenge,” he said.

Crews work with digital systems, update electronic records, interpret system outputs, monitor performance data, manage alerts, complete compliance workflows and share information with shore teams.

Watch officers are now expected to understand ECDIS, radar, AIS, bridge alert management, voyage planning software, GNSS vulnerabilities, company reporting tools, and route-specific procedures. Engineers may be expected to work with control systems, planned maintenance platforms, diagnostics, automation, emissions data, and increasingly complex fuel systems.

Crews are increasingly expected to interpret systems and validate outputs, and regulation is reinforcing this shift. The IMO Data Collection System requires ships of 5,000 gross tonnage and above to collect fuel oil consumption data, which feeds into the Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) framework.

In Europe, the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) has applied to maritime transport emissions since 2024, while FuelEU Maritime has applied from 2025. These requirements bring emissions, fuel use, reporting, and voyage decisions closer together. Compliance is now more embedded into daily operations, increasing the importance of data quality and the crew’s ability to interpret information in context.

This has added to the pressure on crews. Capt. Abhijit Arvind Mohite explained: “The same crew has to manage multiple jobs. They have to ensure safe operation, they have to move cargo, they have to navigate, and in addition to that, they have the burden of paperwork.”

Crew readiness is therefore a very different issue from what it was ten or fifteen years ago, as crews now need to understand unfamiliar software, different equipment layouts, local procedures, port procedures, cargo requirements, reporting platforms, and company expectations.

The IMO first introduced its e-navigation concept in 2006, approved its e-navigation strategy at MSC 85 in 2008, and began implementation planning in 2009. What was then a novel strategic direction has since become the operational baseline. Integrated bridge systems, electronic charts, digital reporting, and shore connectivity that were considered emerging developments are now standard features of vessel operations.

Pradeep Chawla, GlobalMET Chairman, discussed how “we were in a world where competency was taken for granted through mentoring the younger generation, and that has slowly died because the turnaround of ships is faster.”