WAFO - Education and Training

The maritime industry, responsible for over 80% of global transport, plays a pivotal role in international trade and environmental sustainability. However, it contributes approximately 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, highlighting the need for sustainable practices. Maritime education is essential for equipping future professionals with the skills and knowledge required to address these challenges. This study examines maritime educators' commitment to sustainability principles, evaluates their awareness of sustainability issues in port services such as towage, pilotage, and mooring, and explores the integration of behavioural change approaches in their teaching practices. Research methodology employed a quantitative study, and data were collected through an online survey encompassing 86 maritime educators from various countries. The findings revealed that the integration of sustainability principles in maritime education is of critical importance, however, educators see themselves as inadequate in this regard and need more training and resources. Additionally, even though educators are open to using real case studies and interactive learning methods, the materials to support these approaches are insufficient. The study also examines the differences revealed by demographic characteristics and offers various theoretical and practical implications emphasizing educators' role in enhancing awareness and adoption of sustainability among maritime professionals to support the development of a well-trained workforce, capable of driving sustainable practices within the maritime industry. 

Amidst industry transitions such as the circular and energy transition, and increasing stakeholder pressure to port growth and operations, port clusters must continue to assure their social license to operate. Employment has since long been a key indicator for a ports' social license to operate. Taking a resource-based view perspective, this paper explores how the circular transition in port clusters will affect human resources in terms of employment evolution, skills and education, and create other challenges. This research is novel in exploring the impact of the circular transition on human resources and in turn, on port competitiveness and social license to operate. 25 semi-structured interviews were conducted with port users in the circular business in the Flemish ports of North Sea Port, Port of Antwerp-Bruges, and Port of Ostend. Results demonstrate that no major changes in the quantity of jobs is observed, nor expected. While a lack of circular economy skills is reported, only very few specific in-house training and development initiatives are held to accommodate the identified skills gap. Moreover, the results suggest that employment changes are likelier to stem from the transition to digitalization and automation, rather than from the circular transition itself.

The paper explores the operational energy efficiency resulting from actions by the senior officers on-board and their communication and collaboration with the on-shore vessel manager working in the ship management company. Ship management includes implementing energy efficiency measures to gradually reduce ship's fuel consumption and air emission. IMO goal is to achieve 40% reduction compared to 2008 values by 2030. A qualitative case study is conducted on the management and operation of a 2023 built dual fuel newcastlemax bulk carrier with 11 similar sister vessels. Findings include the existence of lack of knowledge and cultural differences within multinational crew and officers which could impact energy efficiency operations negatively. Ship and equipment-specific energy-efficiency training play a role, in addition to general in-house computer-based training (CBT). The officers could probably benefit from more appropriate ship-specific training to expand their knowledge on energy usage and air emission. Extension of the duration of on-board crew work contracts should be kept to a minimum since it can cause stress and fatigue among the officers in charge, resulting in less energy-efficiency awareness. The research question is: How can the ship management company contribute to improve the energy-efficiency operations on board?

Given the increasingly rapid technological innovation cycles, maritime training and education must be provided before they are mandated by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions at a time when Europe, facing a decline in the attractiveness of seafaring careers, is keen to maintain its shipping competitiveness. The Maritime Education and Training Network (MET-NET) is a direct outcome of SkillSea - co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union Sectoral Cooperation on Skills (implementing the "Blueprint") - project which produced numerous research findings and applicable solutions to address the gaps and requirements for upskilling and reskilling maritime professionals in response to digitalization and sustainability-related trends in the industry. This paper showcases the opportunities provided by MET-NET to leverage synergies between educational organizations involved in the broader sector of Maritime Education and Training while responding to rapidly evolving demands from the regulatory environment and industry. The sharing of resources, exchange of complementary expertise, and common specifications for new educational material, such as addressing violence and harassment, have been a central focus for this new network of educational cooperation that has developed through the commitment of a diverse spectrum of partners, including social stakeholders.