Maritime Stakeholders’ Insights on Maritime Education and Training in the Autonomous Shipping Era. A Small-Scale Study in Spain

Recent advancements in telecommunications, computing and sensors are driving ships to become increasingly more autonomous. Despite concerns about the decline in the number of seafarers and maritime jobs, this new trend is expected to be an opportunity for the creation of new businesses and roles requiring highly skilled crews and operators. Maritime Education and Training (MET) must evolve by updating curricula, incorporating new topics and upgrading teaching methodologies while maintaining compliance with the STCW (Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping) Convention. This article aims to analyse maritime stakeholders’ perceptions of this emerging topic, contributing to the conceptualisation of the new MET framework in Spain through a small-scale study. Questionnaires were run to gather opinions about the new topics, skills and competences that future seafarers should acquire in their education. The results reveal an ongoing and open debate regarding the preparation of future maritime professionals and the recognition that changes are necessary in the framework to integrate Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) into maritime curricula. This need for adaptation is further emphasised by the development of new courses by theEuropean Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO).