Maritime Sector Research Articles

Status and perspectives of blue economy sectors across the Macaronesian archipelagos

The global economy is increasingly focusing on the Oceans to meet its needs, for which maritime spatial planning is being fostered to promote this is done sustainably. Thus, assessing the current state and future development trends of the maritime sectors is key to evaluating the performance of the planning process. This is the aim of this study, in which the main maritime sectors related to the blue economy present in the archipelagos of the European Macaronesia Sea Basin, i.e. the Azores and Madeira (Portugal), and the Canary Islands (Spain), were identified and studied. The following maritime sectors were analysed: fisheries, marine aquaculture, marine biotechnology, coastal and maritime tourism, maritime transport, ship repair and maintenance, extraction of aggregates, deep-sea mining, offshore oil and gas, renewable ocean energies, and desalination. As part of the PLASMAR project, partners undertook in 2017–19 a literature review gathering scientific papers, official statistics and reports, which were complemented by interviews with experts from the economic sectors and public administration departments. Results show that while some maritime sectors are well established, others are emerging sectors with varying long-term growth potential. Besides, development patterns vary across the archipelagos. This study represents the first effort in the Macaronesia Sea Basin to set the basis of the current and future development conditions of the blue economy in applicability to maritime spatial planning processes at a regional level. The future post-pandemic context will provide a unique opportunity to promote the blue economy sectors and activities through the support provided by the EU Green Deal and Recovery and Resilience Plans, as well as with the actions envisioned under the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030). The European Macaronesia example –given its wide maritime territory, commitment, and capacities in terms of expertise and networking– presents a great potential to act as a good practice to extrapolate the new approach for a sustainable blue economy to other similar geographical settings such as island regions/states.

Peluang dan Tantangan Indonesia Menuju Poros Maritim Dunia: Perspektif Politik Internasional

Indonesia has various benefits as a world maritime axis such as a large economic potential because Indonesia is the largest archipelagic country in the world, Indonesia has great economic potential in the maritime sector, including in the fields of fisheries, shipping and marine tourism. As the world's maritime axis, Indonesia must strengthen national security and defense as an archipelagic country, Indonesia has vast territorial waters, which need to be guarded against various threats, such as illegal fishing, ship theft, and terrorist activities at sea. The purpose of this research is to explain the world's maritime axis in an international political perspective. The research method used is qualitative research. The results of this study are that Indonesia has a very big opportunity to make itself the world's maritime axis. However, on the other hand, there are also several challenges that need to be overcome in developing Indonesia's maritime sector. Opportunities that exist include enormous maritime potential, strategic geographical position, the existence of international shipping lanes, and attractive maritime tourism potential. While the challenges faced are the lack of adequate infrastructure and technology, limited competent human resources, maritime security issues, and the lack of appropriate policies in regulating the maritime sector.

Financial performance-based assessment of companies’ competitiveness: Evidence from the Norwegian Shipbuilding Industry

The Norwegian maritime industry is at the forefront of green technology development, with shipyards playing a crucial role in testing, verification, and development. However, the industry faces challenges such as high personal costs, increasing competition from abroad, and cyclical market trends. This study aims to assess financial performance as indicator of firm-level competitiveness based on a set of 12 financial measures and test the hypothesis of the positive impact of portfolio diversification on shipyards’ competitiveness.The analysis utilizes data from four large construction yards and four medium-sized construction, repair, and maintenance yards in the Møre region. The methodology involves constructing a Shipyard Competitiveness Index with sub-indices for liquidity, profitability, solvency, and efficiency. Regression analysis is conducted to investigate the impact of ship variety, as a diversification parameter, on the competitiveness level.The obtained results reveal that during the analyzed period (2009–2020), companies in the group of large shipyards had better financial performance until 2017, while on the contrary, the second group of shipyards in the same period showed an increase in their competitiveness index. Moreover, the findings proved the presence of the positive relationship between diversification of portfolio and competitiveness index.This study contributes valuable insights for the Norwegian shipbuilding industry, highlighting the importance of financial performance assessment in measuring competitiveness. The study provides a foundation for future discussions on fostering sustainable growth and innovation within the maritime sector.

Glass Ceiling Paradox and Women’s Career Progression: A Case of Female Employees in Colombo Port, Sri Lanka

Despite the increasing participation of women in the workforce, their representation in decision-making positions on the corporate ladder has been slow and remains a worldwide concern. One of the primary reasons behind this concern has been identified in the literature as the theory of the ‘Glass Ceiling’. On the other hand, with such enormous strategic potential, more involvement and contribution of women in all economic sectors, particularly the maritime and ports industry in Sri Lanka is much needed. However, Sri Lanka has a lower rate of women's participation in the maritime sector compared to other countries in the world which highlight the need for further investigation into this issue. Therefore, the current research aimed to explore the effect of the Glass Ceiling theory on Women's Career Progression in the Sri Lankan port sector. The study used a quantitative approach and surveyed 108 executive-level female employees in Port of Colombo using a structured questionnaire. The data was analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS. The results revealed that Individual, Family, and Organizational factors negatively impacted Women's Career Progression, while Cultural factors had a positive impact. Furthermore, the study found that the Glass Ceiling has a 77.8 percent influence on the Women Career Progression among executive-level female employees working under the Sri Lanka Ports Authority. These findings highlight the need of addressing Individual, Family, Organizational, and Cultural factors to promote female upward mobility in the maritime and port industry in Sri Lanka.

Advancing sustainability in the maritime sector: energy design and optimization of large ships through information modelling and dynamic simulation

This paper deals with a new energy design approach for ships to reduce the fuel consumption and the related environmental impact. The proposed method is based on the application of the Building Information Modeling (BIM) to Building Energy Modeling (BEM) technique. Specifically, by a BIM model of the ship a 3D physics-based model (BEM) can be suitably created. Then, by BEM the ship energy performance is simulated under real and dynamic operating conditions. By the presented method the whole design-to-delivery process of the ship can be simplified and speeded up with respect to traditional approaches, without losing reliability. As an example, HVAC systems design is easier through BIM since a high number of thermal zones can be effectively handled. Due to BEM, also the optimal design for exploiting waste heat recoveries of on-board combustion engines is easier and faster.To show the capability of the proposed approach a suitable case study was developed. Basically, it concerns the energy performance analysis of the Allure of the Seas, a 6000-passenger cruise ship operating in the Caribbean Sea. Two different scenarios for recovering the waste heat of the ship diesel generators are investigated. Simulation results highlight that significant primary energy saving can be obtained by optimizing the strategy to recover the available thermal energies (up to 600 MWh per trip), with a remarkable amount of avoided pollutant emissions (58, 0.06, 4.0, 0.2, 2.0 kg/km of CO2, PM2.5, NOx, HC, SOx, respectively).The presented new approach can be easily adopted to design and optimize the energy system of any new or existing ships, with the twofold aim to achieve economic savings and to fulfil environmental sustainability standards.

Comparing Life-Cycle Emissions of Biofuels for Marine Applications: Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Wet Wastes, Pyrolysis of Wood, Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis of Landfill Gas, and Solvolysis of Wood.

Recent restrictions on marine fuel sulfur content and a heightened regulatory focus on maritime decarbonization are driving the deployment of low-carbon and low-sulfur alternative fuels for maritime transport. In this study, we quantified the life-cycle greenhouse gas and sulfur oxide emissions of several novel marine biofuel candidates and benchmarked the results against the emissions reduction targets set by the International Maritime Organization. A total of 11 biofuel pathways via four conversion processes are considered, including (1) biocrudes derived from hydrothermal liquefaction of wastewater sludge and manure, (2) bio-oils from catalytic fast pyrolysis of woody biomass, (3) diesel via Fischer-Tropsch synthesis of landfill gas, and (4) lignin ethanol oil from reductive catalytic fractionation of poplar. Our analysis reveals that marine biofuels' life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions range from -60 to 56 gCO2e MJ-1, representing a 41-163% reduction compared with conventional low-sulfur fuel oil, thus demonstrating a considerable potential for decarbonizing the maritime sector. Due to the net-negative carbon emissions from their life cycles, all waste-based pathways showed over 100% greenhouse gas reduction potential with respect to low-sulfur fuel oil. However, while most biofuel feedstocks have a naturally occurring low-sulfur content, the waste feedstocks considered here have higher sulfur content, requiring hydrotreating prior to use as a marine fuel. Combining the break-even price estimates from a published techno-economic analysis, which was performed concurrently with this study, the marginal greenhouse gas abatement cost was estimated to range from -$120 to $370 tCO2e-1 across the pathways considered. Lower marginal greenhouse gas abatement costs were associated with waste-based pathways, while higher marginal greenhouse gas abatement costs were associated with the other biomass-based pathways. Except for lignin ethanol oil, all candidates show the potential to be competitive with a carbon credit of $200 tCO2e-1 in 2016 dollars, which is within the range of prices recently received in connection with California's low-carbon fuel standard.

Mobbing among seafarers: Scale development and application of an interval type-2 fuzzy logic system

Mobbing is a universal problem in every industry, but it is a particularly serious problem for seafarers who are tied to their work 24 h a day, 7 days a week. In this study, it was first aimed to develop a mobbing scale for seafarers from Turkey as one of the countries that provide the most seafarers to the international maritime sector and to examine their mobbing behaviors. A total of 518 people participated in the development of the scale, while 211 participated in a validation study. Factors were determined using exploratory factor analysis and then the validity of the developed scale was verified utilizing confirmatory factor analysis. Secondly, an interval type-2 fuzzy logic system was designed based on the developed scale to deal with the imprecision and vagueness inherent to the answers to the questions. To our knowledge, this is the first study to employ interval type-2 fuzzy sets to measure mobbing behavior. The results of the study demonstrate that there are inverse relationships between the age, professional experience, and position of seafarers and the severity of the mobbing to which they are exposed. The study recommends that the awareness of mobbing be promoted among seafarers.

Exploring Maritime Piracy and Somalia National Security

Maritime piracy has been a persistent problem in the waters off the coast of Somalia for over two decades. The lack of effective governance and the absence of a functioning state in Somalia have contributed to the growth of piracy in the region. This study aims to examine the relationship between maritime piracy and national security in Somalia and to explore the contextual factors that contribute to the perpetuation of piracy in the region. This study adopted a qualitative research design and employed a contextual analysis approach to explore an in-depth understanding of the history and impact of piracy in Somalia, and the policies and strategies implemented to combat piracy. The findings of the study reveal that maritime piracy has had a significant impact on national security in Somalia and that the issue is complex and multifaceted. In terms of the factors driving piracy, research has identified a range of causes including poverty, political instability, and the absence of effective governance and law enforcement remain unaddressed. The study also found that maritime piracy in Somalia poses a significant threat to national security and has broader implications for regional stability and international peace and security. The study recommends the need for a comprehensive and coordinated approach to address the root causes of piracy in Somalia, including the need for effective governance, the development of the maritime sector, and the strengthening of the rule of law.

Optimal design strategy for fuel cell-based hybrid power system of all-electric ships

The All-electric ship (AES) concept has revolutionized the maritime sector. Indeed, AES is a promising solution for modern vessels where decreasing emission pollution, suppressing fossil fuel consumption, and making economical operation are its brilliant merits. Fuel cell (FC) technology based on clean hydrogen energy sources can play a significant role in meeting these requirements in the AES platform. Because of the slow transient response of the FC, an energy storage system (ESS) is required to improve AES performance in different operation scenarios. Therefore, optimal sizing of the FC and the ESS and proper design of energy management strategy is a challenging problem. This paper proposes a systematic approach for the optimal design of hybrid FC-ESS of AES power systems. The proposed method is based on an optimization technique to determine the optimal sizing of the FCs and the ESS. Capital investment, fuel consumption, personnel electrical safety, and occupied volume of the AES power system are the main objectives. The FC size, the battery size, the scheduled output power of the FC, and the battery are the decision variables. Genetic Algorithm (GA) is used to solve the optimization problem. To validate the numerical results, the optimization problem is also solved by Mayfly Algorithm (MA) separately. To assess the feasibility of the proposed strategy, the optimal design of hybrid FC-ESS for a vessel is implemented based on the proposed method. The simulation results validate the proposed approach's sufficiency to investigate and optimize the economic, safety, and dimensional aspects of designing the FC ship's IPS. Numerical results are reported for each design aspect. Considering the minor differences of the numerical results obtained by GA and MA, the optimum points are validated by the two techniques. Using the obtained results, various perceptions can be derived from the FC ship's IPS design. For example, the IPS cost in the cases with optimum volume, weight, and safety, has 2.3%, 2.6%, and 7.3% penalties, respectively compared to the case with the minimum cost.

TERA of Gas Turbine Propulsion Systems for RORO Ships

Recently, regulations on emissions produced by vessels from international maritime organizations, along with the instability of fuel prices, have encouraged researchers to explore fuels and technology that are cleaner than heavy fuel oil and diesel engines. In this study, we employed the TERA method to evaluate the feasibility of using gas turbine engines with cleaner fuels as a replacement for diesel engines as a propulsion system for RORO ships. A sensitivity evaluation and risk assessment were also conducted to investigate the impact of applied emission taxes on the economic results. The findings indicated that the diesel engine emitted higher nitrogen oxide emissions than the gas turbine fuelled by natural gas and hydrogen. The gas turbine with hydrogen had zero carbon dioxide emissions, making it a sustainable energy production option. The economic aspects were evaluated based on an international route, and they revealed that economic profitability significantly depended on fuel costs and consumption. The diesel engine fuelled by marine diesel oil and the gas turbine fuelled by natural gas were economically attractive, whereas the gas turbine fuelled by hydrogen was less viable due to its high operating cost. However, in a scenario where a carbon dioxide tax was introduced, the gas turbine fuelled by hydrogen showed high potential as a low-risk investment compared to the other technologies. In summary, this study demonstrated the usefulness of the TERA method in the maritime sector for selecting and comparing various propulsion systems.

Damage detection in ship hull structures under operational variability through strain sensing

Recently, growing concern for the reliability of ship structures has emerged among stakeholders in the maritime sector. In the transition towards predictive maintenance, Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) has emerged as a viable option. SHM systems seek to infer the existence or level of structural degradation using response data from in-situ sensors. In this work, damage detection in marine stiffened panels is treated. Out-of-plane deflections of the panel’s plate elements act as the damage case of interest, due to being potential triggers for buckling collapse. Strain response data are employed as the damage-sensitive features. Two different approaches are employed for damage detection. In the first, the problem is cast as one of multi-class classification, where the different classes correspond to discrete deflection levels, and a detection theory-based classifier is employed. In the second, the problem is treated as one of probabilistic regression, where strain readings are mapped to the probability distribution of the deflection magnitude. Both methods are implemented on a realistic stiffened panel geometry subjected to operational variability, based on an existing vessel, while all the employed data is obtained through Finite Element (FE) simulations. Results indicate that the proposed architecture can effectively provide uncertainty-informed predictions of out-of-plane deflection levels.

Experimental demonstration of high-temperature heat recovery in a solar reactor

The production of drop-in liquid fuels via solar-driven thermochemical processes is a promising pathway for sustainable aviation and maritime sectors. The most important performance indicator is the solar-to-fuel energy efficiency, which is severely limited in a temperature-swing redox cycle without the application of heat recovery between the reduction and oxidation steps. In this work, we report on the successful experimental demonstration of high-temperature heat recovery in a solar reactor using a honeycomb-based thermal energy storage unit. With nitrogen as the heat transfer fluid, a heat recovery effectiveness of 33% is obtained using solar radiation as the sole energy input.

The nexus between institutional framework and employee performance in Tanzania’s maritime sector

Employee performance has been a critical theme which has received global attention in the mainstream literature of public sector governance. In developing countries, the need for employee performance is backed up by public dismay on declining public sector performance. Some of the causes attributed to low performance are the meagre resources allocated to the public sector and the existing formal rules and regulations which mould the behaviour of employees. So far, the existing informal social rules which also regulate the behaviour of employees have received little attention. This article is therefore set to explore the relationship between the formal institutional framework, the informal social rules and the availability of resources on one hand, and employee performance within Tanzania's maritime sector on the other. Accordingly, the study adopted a mixed approach with a case study of the Tanzania Port Authority in Dar es Salaam. To this end, a stratified simple random sampling technique was used to get a sample of 318 respondents for a questionnaire and a purposeful sampling technique was used to get a sample of 30 respondents for in-depth interviews. Quantitative data were analysed through descriptive statistics of employee performance variables and interviews were analysed through a thematic approach to get in-depth information concerning the influence of formal and informal institutions and resources on employee performance. The study found that employees’ performance behaviour at Dar es Salaam port authority is regulated by formal system such as the Open Performance Review and Appraisal System and informal channels of communication. The formal rules define the targets to be reached by each employee but the informal social rules and the resources provide the conditions to achieve the predetermined target. Points for practitioners Public managers should be aware that employee performance in the public sector is a function not only of formal rules and regulations in place but also of the availability of resources and the informal social rules which set the conditions and influence the way public officials perform their daily duties and responsibilities in the public office.

A two-way coupled FSI ship hard grounding dynamics model

In the maritime sector, ship grounding incidents continue to be a serious problem that may lead to oil spills, capsizing, severe property damage, and even fatalities. Grounding accidents are currently understood utilizing inadequate statistical datasets, probabilistic grounding scenarios, and deterministic computational crashworthiness methodologies due to a lack of practical tools and techniques. The implementation of multiphysics assessment techniques is essential for the development of improved ship safety standards. This involves the use of rapid models for structural integrity rules and damage stability regulations. Taimuri et al., (2022) [1] introduced a rapid two-way coupled fluid-structure interaction (FSI) model that seeks to efficiently examine accidental loads following a ship hard grounding event to fulfil such a requirement. The current study offers an overview of the algorithm and its limitations.

Solar Energy-Powered Boats: State of the Art and Perspectives

This paper presents an examination of the primary applications of solar energy as the main power source in the maritime sector, focusing on recent developments. A comprehensive review of the existing literature, including journal articles, proceedings, and patents, is conducted to identify three prominent areas for advancing solar energy-powered boats: maritime drones, sporting boats, and short-range touristic vessels. Maritime drones primarily serve as small autonomous boats for research, conservation, or military operations. On the other hand, sporting boats include nautical and energy design competitions involving students and enthusiasts. In terms of commercial interest, there is a growing demand for environmentally friendly and low-noise boats suitable for tourist activities, particularly in protected areas. Furthermore, specific and illustrative cases are explored in a dedicated section. Lastly, potential future perspectives are discussed and elucidated.

A social sustainability model for maritime labour force based on card sorting, fuzzy AHP & QFD method

Within the context of the ongoing implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development-Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs), actions toward economic, environmental, and social sustainability were aimed to be promoted. As a key stakeholder, the maritime industry's role in handling global sustainability is increasingly recognized. Social sustainability, one of the components of sustainable development, is a major concern in the maritime field for protecting the crew and providing a safe working environment. However, it is surprising to note the lack of research addressing the social sustainability of the maritime labour force in the literature. This study aims to propose a social sustainability model for the maritime labour force. The model was constructed using Card Sorting, Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchical Process (FAHP) & Quality Function Deployment (QFD) Methods. Because it discloses the expectations of the maritime labour force and the requirements that can meet these expectations, the authors have been prompted by the QFD method's frequent use in the literature and the fact that it generates the best answers to customer expectations. With the QFD method and House of Quality (HoQ) used to determine the requirements that can meet customer expectations, the requirements that can correspond to the expectations of the maritime labour force have been determined. The use of the card sorting program during the determination of the indicators has been an important point in terms of displaying a scientific approach. In addition, it is aimed to eliminate linguistic ambiguities by using the FAHP method of weighting expectations in the House of Quality method. The results revealed that work-life balance, social benefit, education and training, safety and healthy working environment at sea were the most critical expectations of seafarers, and the wage policy was less important among other expectations from the social sustainability perspective. Moreover, health and safety of people, social insurance and benefits, medical coverage and medical benefits, repatriation, understandable contract, quality and quantity of food, setting up a land-sea-land career management system, short deployment and flexible working time and, establishment of a crew welfare department were found to be the most critical requirements. The study highlights possible implications on managerial aspects and can be used as a practical guideline for decision-makers seeking to implement sustainable development in their organizations. This paper is among research studies' first to apply a hybrid approach and propose a social sustainability model for the maritime labour force. Due to the positive social and environmental effects this study will have, it will not only help seafarers, marine operators, the maritime sector, national and international economy, but also all world societies.

Experimental Activities on a Hydrogen-Powered Solid Oxide Fuel Cell System and Guidelines for Its Implementation in Aviation and Maritime Sectors

Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) systems are spreading worldwide and, for limited applications, also in the transport sector where high power rates are required. In this context, this paper investigates the performance of a six-cell SOFC stack by means of experimental tests at different power levels. The experimental campaign is based on two different stages: the heating phase, useful for leading the system temperature to approximately 750 °C, and the test stage, in which the experimental activities are properly carried out with varying input parameters, such as the DC current load. In addition, a detailed post-processing activity is conducted to investigate the main performance that could be used in the scale-up processes to design and size a SOFC-based system for transportation. The experimental results concern the electrical power, which reaches 165 W, roughly 27 W for each cell and with 52% electrical efficiency, as well as the theoretical thermal power and efficiency, useful for cogeneration processes, with maximum values of 80 W and 25%, respectively, achieved at maximum load. This discussion then shifts to an in-depth analysis of the possible applications of SOFCs in sustainable mobility, particularly in the maritime and aviation industries. The complexities of the issues presented underscore the field’s multidisciplinary nature, ranging from materials science to system integration, and environmental science to regulatory standards. The findings presented could be useful to scientists, engineers, policymakers, and industry stakeholders working on the development and commercialization of SOFC systems in the sustainable transportation sectors.

Concept design of military and civilian interoperability based on sensing technology to support defense systems in the Malacca Strait region

The Malacca Strait region is of strategic importance in terms of global maritime security between Asia and the Middle East, and between Europe and North America, making it a frequent area of cross-border criminal activity, illegal trade and, most importantly, ship piracy. However, piracy in the Straits of Malacca has increased significantly. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen security activities against piracy in the sea area through military-civilian joint operations using sensor technology. This study aims to develop a military-civilian interoperability concept based on sensor technology to support defense systems in the Straits of Malacca region. The research methodology used is a literature review of military and civilian interoperability with concurrent embedded applications in relation to LISI and OIM interoperability standards. Generation of wave and wind climate maps from 2013 to 2022 using Ina-Waves modeling of wave information and Ina-Flows of current, salinity, and sea temperature information at each depth. Literature study on HAPS sensor technology. The results showed that interoperability between TNI AL and Bakamla RI and between TNI AL and TNI AU is still at ad-hoc level, and interoperability between Bakamla RI and TNI AU is still at isolated level. This situation can be overcome by developing interoperability concepts that may be applied when planning a HAPS deployment. Sensor technology can be used to map area features to narrow down the monitored area. In addition, HAPS (High Altitude Platform System) can be used to perform real-time maritime surveillance, and in the future, strengthen the defense of the maritime sector, whose main mission is surveillance and object detection.

To Explore or to Exploit? Opportunities, Dynamic Capabilities, and Performance of Maritime Enterprises in Ghana

ABSTRACT This study investigates how the recognition and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities influence small business performance via interactions with firm-level innovation capability and learning orientation. We frame the study within the maritime-sector context and seek to contribute to the understanding of how the interplay between opportunity recognition, exploitation, innovation capability and learning orientation affects the entrepreneurial performance of local businesses when there is a technological policy change. The study further frames its arguments from a dynamic capability perspective and tests its arguments with data from 284 local businesses operating in the Port of Tema. Findings reveal that opportunity exploitation and learning orientation as well as their interplay have a positive and significant effect on entrepreneurial performance. The study consequently presents local micro-entrepreneurial reactions to macro-level policy changes within the maritime sector – an issue that has largely remained uninvestigated in the African business literature due to maritime blindness.

Aligning the Ship Engine Cadets’ Skills to the 21st Century

The Philippines is one of the single largest nationality groups in the maritime and shipping sectors; as a result, the nation's efforts to modernize the skills of the engine cadets are significant. This study aimed to assess the engine cadets' skill level in relation to the requisite 21st-century skills while they were receiving shipboard training at TORM Shipping Philippines Inc. It used a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design. The paper used mean, standard deviation, and Mann-Whitney for comparing differences between two independent groups for the statistical treatment analyses of the quantitative data. Thematic analysis of the descriptive data provided by the interviewees involved coding and identifying common themes, patterns, and responses. The findings revealed that the engine cadets were competent in three (3) areas but needed to be more competent in the remaining area (inventive thinking). This signified that the engine cadets need supplemental training in the areas where they are less apt to improve their skills in all variables, especially 21st-century skills. The management of maritime schools and policymakers must address the common factors that prevent engine cadets from acquiring 21st-century skills, according to the study.