Implications of autonomous shipping for maritime education and training: the cadet’s perspective

Abstract

The Industrial Revolution 4.0 has not left the transportation sector behind. All modes of transportation have, to some extent, already been affected, and maritime is the last to join them. Currently available technology makes autonomous merchant ships a possible alternative to conventional, manned vessels with seafarers. This upcoming shift requires the preparation of necessary policies, such as rethinking obsolete training curricula, in relation to a variety of aspects of the industry, including the future of seafaring as a profession. To formulate such policies, the views of professional seafarers and scholars are sometimes solicited, but the opinions of industry entrants are often neglected. However, the latter may also have some interesting views on the future of their profession, which may be relevant to policy-makers. The results of a worldwide survey, conducted using the Computer-Assisted Web Interviewing (CAWI) method, suggest that the future generation of seafarers fears automation less than their mentors. Although they expect their skills to be useful in automation-driven shipping, they also feel that their Maritime Education and Training institutions (MET) are not doing enough to prepare them for the challenges that the future may hold. This may be due to a lack or poor coverage of shipping autonomization issues in MET curricula, which was mentioned by as many as 41.9% of the respondents. This finding advocates for rethinking the curricula of METs and human resources management in the shipping industry of the future.