Leading the Way

 

Skilled mariners are the backbone of the merchant fleet, and they work tirelessly to keep commerce moving smoothly. But their skills don't simply appear. Years of sea time and high-quality training are essential to building talent. The top-paying jobs in shipping require intensive study early on and throughout the mariner's career.

That means maritime training academies are a vital element in the success of the industry. Based on shipping's vastly-improved safety record, it's clear that rigorous STCW training and simulation are saving lives, cargo and money.

HIGH-TECH EDUCATION

Technology plays an important role in modern maritime education, making it both more accessible and more realistic. Online learning helps ratings and deck officers improve their skills and complete coursework at a distance, even while under way. Digital simulation gives cadets, mariners and pilots a way to push the limits of their skills under pressure without exposing them to real-world risk.

Solent University's Warsash Maritime School in Southampton recognized the benefits of high-tech training early on and has been at the forefront for years.

"We pioneered the use of bridge, engine room and liquid cargo operations simulators," says Susie Smith, Warsash's Marketing Manager. "Our specialist ship-handling training facility is the only one in the U.K. and one of only a few in the world." In a U.K. first, Warsash is now rolling out a government-approved bridge simulation training program for all its new cadets. The 10-day simulator course will substitute for 30 days of sea time for budding mariners.

In the U.S., the training academy MITAGS (a division of the Masters, Mates & Pilots Union) was an early adopter of simulation and prides itself on its advanced simulator services for cadets, marine pilots, port authorities and shipowners.

"All our simulators have been significantly upgraded this year with new computers driving them, new software, new projectors," notes Capt. Jon Kjaelruff, MITAGS's Director of Business Development. "We invest continuously in not only equipment upgrades – having the best equipment out there – but also the most up-to-date models. We have a full-time staff who can fine-tune the ship models and the simulators as well as the operating areas."

MITAGS has found ways to bring simulation to new places. Working with its technology providers, it's developed VR headset systems and cloud-based simulation that can deliver a limited simulation session in any home or office.

"A big impediment in training is just the time and the travel cost," says Kjaelruff. "If the technology can deliver training to where they are, people really like that."

For many mid-career officers, remote options are a game-changer. The American Maritime Officers' STAR Center, which provides courses for union members, has taken advantage of online learning to make life easier for AMO mariners.

"It's been very popular with the students," says Jerry Pannell, Director of Training at STAR Center. "When they have to do required training for their upgrade, they want to do it in the most efficient way possible given that they are taking time off from their ship or using vacation time to do it."

At the Calhoun MEBA Engineering School (CMES), the training academy for members of the Marine Engineers Beneficial Association, technology is front and center. In addition to two bridge simulators for deck officer training, CMES' 700-acre campus has hands-on simulation for everything an engineer might encounter on board – from high-voltage electric propulsion to electronic control systems to LNG marine fuel systems. It's a well-resourced support system for America's oldest and fastest-growing maritime union.

MAKING IT FUN

Technology has also opened up new opportunities for basic safety and familiarization training. Drawing on behavioral research and the design cues of familiar cellphone apps, India's training tech company MarinePALS creates content that fits the needs of younger seafarers.

This approach centers on concise, efficient videos inspired by YouTube and TikTok; interactive, game-like test-and-answer segments, and app engagement prompts that persuade the user to complete more content. All user activity on the app is tracked so that the company and the master can monitor each seafarer's progress.

"The younger generation needs everything to be available on their mobile phones, and the attention span of all people has reduced," says MarinePALS CEO Capt. Pradeep Chawla. To meet that reality, MarinePALS keeps its video content under seven minutes in length and delivers longer trainings as a "Netflix series" of seven-minute segments.

Helpful in-app suggestions put the most relevant content in front of the viewer after each session. "We hope to encourage not complete binge-watching, but at least if you go to one video, then maybe you will see two or three more," Chawla says.

MarinePALS also creates custom gamified learning mini-courses in which the user has to interact with an image or 3D model of a shipboard environment – for example, identifying deficiencies in a shipboard inspection. The flag state of Bermuda is now using this tool to train its inspectors, says Chawla. With a gamified approach, "You can have a competition with your colleague to see who can find more defects."

LEARNING AT SEA

Technology has made maritime training more accessible, more sophisticated and more fun, but there's still no substitute for real sea time.

That's one of the big draws for prospective students at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point. By federal regulation, USMMA has access to two cadet berths on every vessel in the Maritime Security and Tanker Security Programs – the Maritime Administration's U.S.-flag incentive systems. Together with additional berths provided by Military Sealift Command and other operators, there's enough space to send every USMMA midshipman to sea on real merchant ships for a total of one year.

While Sea Year is a proud tradition at Kings Point, America's state maritime academies have another option to offer: training ships, which are being replaced and upgraded under MARAD's National Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV) Program.

The state schools' ships have had long and illustrious histories, but they're approaching the end of their service lives. For example, SUNY Maritime's TS Empire State VI was 60 years old when it retired in 2022, making it one of the oldest deep-sea vessels in the U.S. fleet. With yard-and-stay gear and steam propulsion, it no longer represented modern shipping technology.

SUNY Maritime took delivery of MARAD's first NSMV, Empire State VII, in the fall of 2023. Since then, the brand-new ship has sailed to Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Portugal and Norway, among other destinations, providing hundreds of cadets with an opportunity to hone their skills at sea.

The NSMV design is modern and attractive, perfect not just for training but also for recruiting.

The second NSMV was delivered to Massachusetts Maritime Academy late last year and made its maiden voyage in January and February, calling in Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, South Carolina and Florida. During some of these port calls, the new TS Patriot State II provided open-house recruiting events for prospective students, serving as a mobile demonstration of what a career in shipping (and an education at Mass Maritime) would look like.

POLICY OPPORTUNITIES

The NSMV program has been a big success, and not by accident.

MARAD hired TOTE Maritime to serve as an intermediary between itself and Philly Shipyard (now Hanwha Philly), thereby insulating the shipbuilder from the challenges of federal contracting. This kept down the cost per hull – $300 million, a fraction of the estimate of the Naval Sea Systems Command – and kept the work on track by preventing change orders.

The five hulls are a $1.5 billion down payment towards the future of the state academies, but there are other ways that Washington could help, says MITAGS' Kjaelruff, especially if policymakers want to grow the U.S.-flag fleet. The SHIPS for America Act has generated a lot of interest in D.C. with its goal of adding 250 ships to the U.S. registry, and if it takes off there will be a need to train many more mariners.

"If you've added a new merchant ship, where do you find people to crew it?" says Kjaelruff. "For the training community, it would be a big step up in demand to prepare enough people to be on those vessels."

One viable option would be federal financial assistance to cover part of the cost of training for new recruits, both inside and outside the state academies. A forgivable loan program to help pay for tuition would go a long way toward bringing new people into the business, Kjaelruff adds. Their education would cost less up front, and if they completed a time obligation working in maritime the loan would be written off, creating a financial incentive to keep shipping out.

Another is to invest in advertising and recruitment, says the STAR Center's Pannell. Maritime employment isn't yet on the radar for every young student. Outreach and public awareness efforts could help change that.

"We reach out to high schools nationwide, and we work with the American School Counselors Association," Pannell states. "The more counselors know about the maritime industry, the more they can steer the right candidates our way. You have to figure out innovative ways to get to those hands-on learners who may be interested."

Capt. Ted Morley, CEO of Florida-based Maritime Professional Training, adds that entry-level positions in shipping are a critical missing piece – an area that would benefit from federal backing.

"It's hard to gain experience when virtually every job requires experience," says Morley. "Getting more companies on board with the idea of cadets or apprentices onboard is a big part of the puzzle. Policymakers could help by providing some means of support to these cadets or to the companies willing to place them."

Paul Benecki is the magazine's News Editor.