As the shift towards alternative, low- and zero-carbon fuels and technologies gathers momentum, crew training urgently needs to be addressed, writes David Tinsley
Over the decades, sea-going personnel have consistently demonstrated a readiness, ability and constancy in adapting to technological advance and related changes in navigation, engineering, operating methods and industry practices.
The unfolding era of the energy transition continues to engender manifold technical solutions and proposals addressing ships’ powering arrangements and fuel usage, shaping fleet newbuild design and investment. Whether or not there has been proportionate consideration of the new challenges presented to seafarers and training procedures is open to question. Clearly, though, crew upskilling is fundamentally important to the ultimate working effectiveness, efficiency and safety of shipboard technical developments.
With the pursuit of ‘green’ shipping through decarbonisation and the consequent search for cleaner fuels and alternate propulsion systems and ship design arrangements, the attentions of IMO and other international organisations as concerns the ramifications for seafarers must surely come into sharper focus.
Significantly in this context, the Maritime Just Transition Task Force recently announced a move to establish a new training framework to equip seafarers with the necessary skills in decarbonisation as the maritime industry progresses on the path towards the ultimate goal of zero emissions. The project, implemented with funding from IMO and Lloyd’s Register Foundation, puts seafarers at the heart of shipping’s response to what is acknowledged as the climate emergency.
IMO’s standpoint on decarbonisation is expressed in its ambition for international shipping to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by or around 2050. As a first-stage objective which should concentrate minds, it is looking to ensure an uptake of zero or near-zero GHG emission technologies, fuels and/or energy sources to an extent that will represent at least 5%, while striving for up to 10%, of the energy used by the industry come 2030.
The new Maritime Just Transition Task Force endeavour, entitled ‘Training Seafarers for a Decarbonised Future’, was announced at December’s UN Climate Change Conference (COP 28) meeting in Dubai. The project is being run by IMO and the secretariat of the Task Force, which is a joint undertaking of London-headquartered IMO and the United Nations Global Compact, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), International Labour Organization (ILO), and International Transport Workers Federation (ITF).
Lloyd’s Register will develop the training framework for seafarers and officers, as well as an instructor handbook for maritime training institutions, and IMO’s World Maritime University in Malmo, Sweden, will lend its academic expertise to the project. Other organisations are also involved through a global industry peer group, to achieve wider knowledge sharing.
The envisaged baseline training framework and associated material plus a train-the-trainer programme is scheduled to be ready by mid-2025, making for an 18-month work timeline. Upon completion, the package will first be tested in Asia through a WMU-led campaign, with support from the regional IMO Maritime Technology Cooperation Centre (MTCC) and other partners. The intention is to subsequently expand testing globally, through the various MTCCs and other establishments.
Once its efficacy has been assured, the package will become available to all IMO member states, for use by maritime education and training institutions.
The Maritime Just Transition Task Force was set up in 2021 during the COP26 event in Glasgow, with the aim of strengthening and coordinating collaboration between governments, industry, academia and seafarers’ representatives to ensure that shipboard personnel are central to decarbonisation strategies.
The founders’ rationale is that seafarers will need adequate skills, education and training to operate new technological systems onboard and to manage fuels new to the marine sector, such as methanol, ammonia and hydrogen, which could represent significant health and safety risks for crew, ships, the environment and communities if not properly handled.
The initial action by the Task Force was to commission a study from DNV to explore how best to support seafarers during the energy transition and to provide an overview of training challenges. The ensuing report modelled three decarbonisation scenarios (based on individual IMO, DNV and LR/UMAS investigations), including dual-fuel internal combustion engines running on methanol, ammonia or liquefied hydrogen, as well as hydrogen fuel cells, ammonia fuel cells and battery systems.
It was determined from all three scenarios that the need for training was immediate. The scale of the challenge as regards number of seagoing personnel differed according to the various models and uptake trajectories for decarbonisation technologies and alternative fuels. DNV put a figure of 750,000 seafarers requiring additional training by 2050, while assessments for the scenario based on LR/UMAS modelling indicated that as many as 800,000 crew would need the requisite upskilling by the mid-2030s.
The findings and recommendations from this first-phase initiative of the Maritime Just Transition Task Force will feed into the current collaborative project.
