European Maritime Skills Forum: Key strategies for attracting and equipping the future maritime workforce

As a representative of the European Maritime Skills Forum, Nikolaos shares the motivation behind the Forum’s creation. He stresses the need for the industry to address key barriers by promoting diversity, challenging stereotypes, and fostering supportive, inclusive workplaces. He also highlights the profound impact that the green and digital transitions will have on the working lives of seafarers. Above all, he underscores the importance of improving onboard working conditions, noting that the European Maritime Skills Forum aims to serve as a platform for meaningful change. “Skills are important, but we cannot expect to attract new talent if we don’t offer quality jobs—with fair pay, job security, clear career pathways, and efforts to reduce fatigue,” says Nikolaos.

SAFETY4SEA: What was the main motivation behind launching the European Maritime Skills Forum?

Nikolaos Koletsis: The main motivation was to use the EU Maritime Skills Forum, as a tool to foster cooperation between the social partners, maritime stakeholders, policymakers, and maritime training institutions as we navigate the green and digital transformation of the Sector. This initiative aims to identify skills gaps emerging from the digital and green transition and discuss the shortage of maritime professionals and limited mobility between land and on-board positions. The Forum builds on the outcomes of the EU-funded SkillSea project, which identified key challenges, evolving skills demands, and the need for better cooperation among stakeholders.

S4S: How will the Forum ensure concrete outcomes rather than just discussions? What are your top priorities on the agenda?

N.K.: When it comes to seafarers’ skills and training, as the rapid evolution of technology requires continuous updates to educational curricula, one of the most challenging exercises, is to modernize maritime education, training systems and curricula in line with these technological changes. Also, to develop policies to improve the quality of education for upskilling and reskilling of seafarers. A key role to the Forum’s work, is expected to be played by the Maritime Training Institution’s Network, the MET-NET. The Forum will be supported by the MET-NET, that began as a collaboration between five maritime academies and has grown into a network of 21 maritime training institutions across Europe. MET-NET serves as an important discussion partner for shipowners, trade unions, and the European Union in the field of maritime education and training. One of the key focus areas within MET-NET and the new forum is influencing learning outcomes and objectives within the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) convention. Already courses are being developed in response to current demands from the industry and before having any mandatory requirements from a revised STCW. It is important that the METs, through their participation at the Forum, can exchange and share best practices and experiences and provide feedback on things that are working well.

S4S: How will the industry’s workforce look in 2030? What can we expect to remain the same, and what will be different?

N.K.: Green and digital transition will have a huge impact on the working lives of seafarers. One of the things we expect to remain the same, is for sure the human expertise that will still be essential in navigation, safety, and responding to emergencies. Seafarers’ knowledge of maritime rules, ship handling, and crisis management will continue to be critical and that is why we want to put the human element at the heart of this transition. Proper competence and human control must be present when introducing new technology and energy sources for propulsion, maneuvering and operation of all types of ships. Even the autonomous and remote operated ships, will need the competent crew to monitor, control remotely and, if necessary, override the computers’ logarithms. The STCW Competences will be needed for Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships as well as for Remote Control Centers.  Digital skills, automation and remote operations will bring many changes and fears of job losses. But we support automation where it does not replace crew, is contributing to safer working conditions, reduce working hours and prevent from repetitive tasks, allowing seafarers to focus on more critical aspects of ship operation for example. It is important that no one to be left behind and we must ensure that all seafarers have a right to paid reskilling and an equal opportunity to gain the necessary training.

S4S: What actions should the industry take today to ensure that the maritime workforce of 2030 is skilled, fairly treated, and motivated to remain in the profession?

N.K.: Improving working conditions onboard is essential to securing the maritime workforce of the future. The most important challenge is the technological and fuel changes required, not to be to the detriment of our maritime professionals; We should use this opportunity to take advantage of the green and digital transition to address long-standing injustices, ensuring better working conditions, creating quality jobs, and making the profession more attractive and inclusive. This is how we would like to see the industry workforce: to ensure a future for our maritime professionals that is just, equitable and human-centred.  Working conditions onboard ships must improve in response to the technological change needed to achieve environmental goals. This is a huge challenge for an industry that faces a cliff edge in terms of retaining skilled crew to enable the implementation of these technologies. It must be a priority to fix systemic failures in existing regulations on minimum crewing levels, and hours of work and rest, that lead to fatigue, protecting the workforce from accidents and preventing criminalisation of seafarers.

S4S: How concerning is a shortage of qualified crew members and where ship operators need to shed their attention?

N.K.: For us, it is important to separate skills shortages from labour shortages. These are two different discussions as existing labour shortages in the sector, is not a matter of addressing skills shortages. It is more a discussion about increasing sector’s attractiveness and when we have a discussion on sector’s attractiveness. Today the profession is not attractive with difficulties in recruitment and a very law retention rate in the Sector. We need to ask ourselves, why the industry cannot attract young people and women to become seafarers. We are trying to address the issue of providing future and today’s seafarers with the right skills but how to provide training if we cannot retain or recruit people to be trained? Firstly we need to address the recruit and retention crisis of the industry. Skills are important but we cannot expect to attract new talents if we don’t offer them quality jobs with fair payments, job security, career pathways, if we do not reduce fatigue.  If these conditions are not met, then it will be impossible to convince young people and talents to embark on seafaring careers, and face the challenges in recruiting and retaining skilled personnel. This becomes even more challenging, taking into consideration the current specialised training and knowledge and the need for constant reskilling and upskilling. The maritime transport industry needs to employ a variety of strategies to build a highly skilled workforce for the future focusing on increasing the attractiveness of the sector to attract talented people and encourage diversity and inclusion.

S4S: What incentives or support need to be available to maritime companies to invest in workforce development and enhance crew motivation and competence?

N.K.: We do not object and yes there must be support and financial benefits to companies producing quality jobs and towards that direction, financial benefits are allowed with the State Aid Guidelines for Maritime Transport. The problem is that, although the main goal of the State Aid Rules, is to produce quality EU jobs and training opportuni­ties for EU seafarers, the current system didn’t manage to fulfil its goals and mainly failed to achieve the reflagging of EU controlled ships into EU m-s registers, but also to produce more jobs to EU seafarers. That is the reason that ETF is calling for a revision of the Guidelines with effective implementation, stricter monitoring and enforcement of the obligations by the European Commission. Not only the maritime companies, but also Governments must invest in maritime professionals’ competences. It takes years to build up a highly skilled workforce and it requires investment and it is necessary to have 100% support for the costs of training, reskilling and upskilling, related with green transition. Companies that upskill their workforce in environmentally sustainable practices could receive access to eco-innovation funds, which would help finance the transition to green technologies.

S4S: How can the industry attract more young talent and ensure gender balance in maritime careers?

N.K.: The shipping industry needs to address several key barriers and must promote diversity, address stereotypes, and create supportive and inclusive workplaces. The sustainability of this dynamic sector depends on the ability to continue to attract a sufficient number of quality new entrants and retain experienced seafarers, including women seafarers and other under-represented groups. Here I will raise an alarm and underline, that if we focus only in environmental sustainability without paying equal attention to the social sustainability of the sector, it is more possible to see an exodus of qualified seafarers from the sector in the near future than attracting new young talents and women.  As I underlined already, we should use this opportunity to take advantage of the green and digital transition to address long-standing injustices, ensuring better working conditions, creating quality jobs, and making the profession more attractive and inclusive.  The urgent duty to decarbonise the industry provides an opportunity for women. Diversifying the maritime workforce is a key dimension of Just Transition according to the ILO Just Transition Guidelines (2015). This creates opportunities for women to reskill and/or enter the maritime workforce. A lot more work needs to be done to really change the culture in shipping and turn the tide for women and underrepresented groups to be accepted on equal terms with men working at sea. Strengthening of Collective bargaining, is one of the best drivers to contribute towards this direction.

S4S: If you could change one thing that would have an either profound or immediate impact on (outside the industry), what this one thing would it be and why?

N.K.: If I could change one thing that would have immediate/ profound impact on making a career in shipping more attractive to young men and women, undoubtedly it would be to reduce the mental and physical exhaustion many of the seafarers are feeling today. The industry is not having a good reputation to the public opinion about that. Seafarers are legally allowed to work 14 hours in any 24 hours period for 6 days per week and this must be changed. It is crucial not only for crew welfare, but also for the ship and environmental safety. Having on board mentally and physically exhausted seafarers increases not only the risk of human error but is putting at risk the safety of lives and ships at sea, as well as the marine and coastal environment. Allow me also to mention another parameter that is critical for the attractiveness of the sector and this is: lack of knowledge among potential seafarers. It is also a persistent problem in the effort to make the profession more attractive. Shipping still suffering from ‘sea blindness, and lacking knowledge, perpetuates myths about the sector and reduces its attractiveness.  ‘Sea blindness’ among the public often leaves seafarers neglected or forgotten. A lack of awareness among the public, media, and decision-makers, impacting the maritime sector’s ability to, for example, attract talent into seafaring.

S4S: What is your key message to industry stakeholders to foster a more sustainable future for shipping?

N.K.:  It would be: “Listen to seafarers”.  All that the industry stakeholders, companies and regulators have to do, is listen to seafarers and embrace collaboration and long-term thinking. At the heart of the green and digital transition, we want to put the human element – ensuring better working conditions, creating quality jobs, and making the profession more attractive and inclusive. Skills are important but we must start by addressing the ongoing recruitment and retention crisis, that we expect to become even more stark through the digital and green transition. We know that more job satisfaction, more respect and better communication are essential for any maritime professional to feel valued. We know that employers need to enhance pay, working conditions, reduce fatigue, improve recruitment and training practices, promote diversity, and be more inclusive. Employers must cooperate with us to deliver these improvements in every forum where they are addressed. Governments too must play their part.

The views presented are only those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of SAFETY4SEA and are for information sharing and discussion purposes only.