The human factor in the digital age

Paper in proceedings, 2018

The shipping industry is traditional and conservative, with slow-moving regulatory body acting in a reactive manner often driven by major shipping disasters. However, moving into the digital age in the 4th IR does not exclude the shipping industry which now is facing a development towards smart and highly automated vessels driven by rapid technological developments. A fully autonomous electric powered container vessel can be a reality in 4 years. The transition into highly and fully autonomous vessels will change the seafarer as we now know them. No doubt, the traditional core knowledge described in the STCW Convention will still be valid for the future operators. The question is what else to they need to know and what skill sets do they need to have? This paper aims at discussing the challenges involved in preparing the future seafarers in their coming role in this digital age.