We’re asking more from people now than ever before. Today’s workforce is expected to operate sophisticated ships with advanced levels of technology. In many cases, advanced technology is installed onboard ships and seafarers are expected to rapidly acquire new skills and competencies to use it.
Evolving and uncertain regulation
Maritime regulation also plays a critical role in driving innovation and in turn, the development and adoption of new technologies. While IMO requirements are well established and any changes to conventions such as STCW move slowly, the goals that the IMO has set for areas such as decarbonisation and cyber security do not move slowly. Consequently, prescriptive regulation on training can often struggle to keep up with the pace of change and we see more and more reliance on best practice guidelines.
Organisations such as OCIMF, Intertanko and RightShip have all developed standards, which many charterers adopt. Such standards are developed and published much more quickly and are far harder to predict. In addition, increasingly, there are also national and regionally agreed regulations such as the European Union MRV, ETS and GDPR that need to be considered. These additional regulations, best practice guidelines and charterer requirements need to be considered to thoroughly prepare crews to meet and stay compliant with requirements. As regulations change, training must be updated and there is a risk this could place an increasing burden on the seafarer. This must be prepared for and managed.
Insufficient financial resources to train and progress crew
A challenge with training crew today is a lack of financial resources for training. Economic pressures often lead to the reallocation of the budget, and training can be the first to go. A study on seafarer retention found that insufficient funding and commitment to training from shipping companies is one of the biggest barriers to recruitment and retention rates in the industry.
Career development is hugely important for seafarers. However, without support and funding to achieve promotion in rank, seafarers’ career progression might be limited. If there is no clear progression either at sea or on shore, leaving the industry is inevitable. According to the latest Seafarers’ Happiness Index, produced by the Mission to Seafarers (Q4 2023), seafarers downgraded their satisfaction levels about training from 7.1 to 6.5/10. The research found that seafarers are excited about the opportunities to train, particularly in new technologies and methodologies which will enable the industry to meet future environmental standards. There is also a strong desire from seafarers for more realistic, online and efficient training methods, and that time is properly set aside whilst on board to complete these courses. Finally, the respondent told them that training which is presented as a “tick box” exercise not only devalues the experience, but it affects the attitude of seafarers who are committed to progressing their careers.
For a more detailed understanding and exploration of the topics covered in this article, refer to our latest report, commissioned by Ocean Technologies Group. The Bottom Line: Why Human Capital Management is the future of HR and crewing. You can download the full report below.
