Mintra presents on the future of maritime at Safety4Sea summit

Mintra will be sharing its experience and thoughts on the future of training solutions for the maritime sector at the three-day virtual summit, Safety4Sea. Hundreds of delegates from around the globe are expected to attend the online event from October 19-21, which will examine issues around safety, human factors and operational excellence.

Mintra’s chief commercial officer Kjetil Flood will sit on the Future Skills panel and will be discussing the challenge of accelerated automation across the maritime sector, which must tackle training and recruitment to stave off an anticipated shortage in the supply of officers.

He will join representatives from the industry in discussing what types of skills will be required in the future and how training can be transformed to adapt to the new reality of autonomous, digital ships. The panel members will also touch on the areas they believe shipping operators need to focus on to address the crew shortage.

“Technology will have many applications in the maritime industry of the future – big data, block chain, cloud computing and cyber security to name just a few. It is essential we ensure that seafarers develop the skills that will support the industry as it deploys digital solutions to increase competitiveness, enhance operational efficiency and meet decarbonisation targets,” said Mr Flood.

Emmanolia Kolias, sales director Marketplace, will give a presentation - Training in a post-pandemic world: how Covid-19 is driving digitalisation. She will be examining how the Covid-19 pandemic forced a move into a virtual world where much of our working lives and interactions took place online.

However, many seafarers – thousands of whom have been stuck on board for months due to the crew change crisis – have been left behind. They have found it difficult to access training, but the pandemic has helped to speed up the pace of digitisation in the industry with smart training and competency solutions shaping the future.

She said: “Learning, training and career progression for seafarers onboard has largely halted with no way of getting on shore to training centres and many unable to access learning on board. Those on shore could not access training centres in order to renew certificates. As a result, we see many cases of expired certificates.

“The future is digital and while maritime could be described as being resistant to change – or at least slower than other industries to implement it – there should be no reason to fear it. Technologies have changed the way we work and can change the way we learn. Instead of working harder, they allow us to work smarter.”