SkillSea
FutureProof Skills for the Maritime Transport Sector
FutureProof skills for the Maritime Transport Sector - Skillsea
Project description: European shipping operates in a global market and many trends have an impact on the seafaring profession such as digitalisation, automation, the greening of shipping and the development of new technologies. Currently, “smart” ships are coming into service which leads to an increased demand of highly-skilled seafarers. However, many maritime professionals are already facing skill gaps and urgently need further training to enhance their skills. Thus, to reinforce the competitiveness of the European shipping sector, it needs to further strengthen its human capital to develop training and the jobs of tomorrow, facilitate employability and ensure that maritime professionals in Europe are equipped with the skills required by the changing needs of the industry.
The four-year SkillSea project aims to develop a strategy for future proof education and training for maritime professionals (both seafarers and on-shore workers working in the maritime industry). It shall especially ensure that Europe’s maritime professionals possess key digital, green and soft management skills for the maritime labour market and thus to create a better match between the industry’s skills needs and the educating of maritime professionals. The project further aims to overcome barriers to the mobility of maritime professionals and to enhance the cooperation between education providers, maritime authorities and the industry.
The 4-year project is co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union under the Key Action 2 – Sector Skill Alliances. The future-proof project is developed by the industry’s social partners, the European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA) and the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) and is comprised of a consortium of 27 partners from national maritime authorities, shipping companies, shipowners’ associations, maritime trade unions and maritime education providers from 16 countries in Europe.
Subjects: Maritime Transport, European shipping, Skill development
Project partners: European Community Shipowners Associations (Belgium), European Transport Workers Federation (Belgium), NTNU Norway (Norway), Svendborg International Maritime Academy (Denmark), Idryma Evgenidou (Greece), Tallinna Tehnikaulikool (Estonia), Hochschule Bremen (Germany), Pomorski Fakultet u Rijeci (Crotia), Cork Institute of Technology (Ireland), Blackpool and The Fylde College (UK), Liverpool John Moores University (UK), Panepistimio Aigaiou (Greece), Universitatea Maritima din Constanta (Rumania), Ecole Nationale Superieure Maritime (France), Universidad de Cadiz (Spain), Shipyards and Maritime Equipment Association of Europe (Belgium), Nautilus International (UK), Danish Shipping (Denmark), Sofartsstyrelsen (Denmark), Stena Line Scandinavia AB (Sweden), Opca Transports et Services (France), Sindicatul Liber al Navigatorilor din Flota Maritima Comercial (Rumania), Ogolnopolski Zwiazek Zawodowy Oficerow i Marynarzy (Poland), Formare Polo Nazionale Formazione per lo Shipping (Italy), Secrétariat général de la mer (France)
Work progress: In order to achieve the overall objectives of the project, there are six interrelated work packages.
• WP1: Skills Needs Identification
• WP2: Future Proof Education and Training
• WP3: Strategy
• WP4: Awareness Raising and Stakeholders Mobilization
• WP5: Implementation
• WP6: Project and Quality Management
HSBA is contributing to work packages 1, 2, 3 and 4. You can find the preliminary and publicly available work results in each section down below.
Work packages and preliminary work results
The overall aim of WP1 is to analyze the skill need of the future maritime transport sector. Therefore, an analysis of current and future skills needs and existing mismatches and gaps for the maritime shipping sector will be conducted in the work package. The impact on current and new occupational profiles will be identified. Furthermore the effect of clustering education and training will be measuring and recommendations for training and education providers will be developed. The lead organization is the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway.
Further literature
Some first findings of WP1 are made available as open access deliverables
The overall objective of WP 2 is to improve labour mobility across the entire maritime industry (e.g. from onshore to offshore) through closing skills gaps. By developing specific skills and competences the overall employability of maritime professionals can be improved. There a toolbox with educational packages will be designed, piloted and delivered to education and training providers in Europe. The Work Packages will furthermore set up a structural cooperation between Maritime Education and Training Institutes. Finally, a professional development Guide for Business /Education Partnerships will be designed. The Work Package is led by Svendborg International Maritime Academy (SIMAC), Denmark.
Work Package 3 is about the strategic implementation and thus seeks to develop a pan-European strategy on future skills for the maritime transport sector. The team members will therefore create a framework of the strategic plan for the development of the Skills strategy. To support this process an online platform for sharing knowledge will be set up which will help actors, stakeholders and end-users to cooperate. The lead organization is Eugenides Foundation (EF), Greece.
Further literature
Some first findings of WP3 are made available as open access deliverables
The objective of Work Package 4 is to raise awareness for the project and to mobilize stakeholders. Therefore a dissemination and outreach plan is developed. This is important in order to increase the attractiveness of the sector especially for young adults and to ensure the sustainable implementation of the outcome of the project. A wide range of dissemination activities and materials to reach target-groups in the partner countries and across Europe will be used in order to make visible and practical the project outcomes. The Work Package is coordinated by Stichting STC Group (STC- Group), Netherlands.
