Has shipping ever demanded more from its seafarers than it does today? Across the industry, leaders are increasingly questioning whether the pace of change at sea is now outstripping the sector’s ability to train and support its workforce.
From alternative fuels and AI-assisted systems to cyber security threats and emissions reporting, today’s seafarers are being asked to balance an unprecedented range of new responsibilities all at once. Industry executives agree that this transition is not just another phase of evolution, but something fundamentally more complex—and potentially more destabilising.
Ajay Chaudhry, co-CEO of shipmanagement at Synergy Marine Group, believes the scale of change is unlike anything the industry has experienced before. While shipping has gone through major transitions such as containerisation, ECDIS adoption, double-hull regulations, fuel changes, ballast water treatment and scrubbers, he argues the current shift is different in both scope and depth.
“The industry has never asked seafarers to absorb so much change at the same time,” he explains, pointing to the growing need to master digital systems, cyber risk management, alternative fuels and increasingly complex compliance frameworks. “This is not a training refresh. It is a redesign of shipboard competence.”
For Vinay Gupta, managing director of Union Marine Management Services, the issue is not only about upskilling but about balance. While continuous learning has always been part of life at sea, he questions whether the industry is now pushing too far, too fast. He warns that excessive demands could risk diluting focus on core operational safety.
“Are we, in the name of upskilling, wearing down our resources and diluting their focus on the core responsibility of managing vessels safely and efficiently?” he asks, calling for a reassessment of expectations.
A similar concern is echoed by Massimo De Vincenzo of SeaQuest Shipmanagement, who argues that the transformation goes far beyond learning new tools. Instead, seafarers are being asked to fundamentally rethink how they interact with information itself.
“We are not simply asking crews to learn new tools – we are asking them to develop an entirely new relationship with information,” he says, highlighting the need to critically assess data outputs, understand the limitations of AI systems, and move beyond procedural compliance. He stresses that this cultural shift must begin early in a seafarer’s career rather than being addressed through short-term training modules.
Sebastian von Hardenberg, CEO of Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement and president of InterManager, also underlines the unprecedented nature of today’s changes. He points to the convergence of digital systems, new fuel technologies and rising regulatory complexity as fundamentally reshaping shipboard roles.
“Today’s chief engineer may manage several fuel types; crews must handle digital systems, emissions monitoring, automation and cyber-secure operations simultaneously,” he notes, adding that investment in training has become more critical than ever.
The issue is not only the scale of change but its speed. Tim Ponath, CEO of NSB Group, acknowledges that every maritime generation believes its challenges are the most significant. However, he argues that the current transformation is genuinely different due to its velocity.
“Survival of the fittest never meant survival of the biggest or strongest – it means survival of the most adaptable,” he says, stressing that adaptability now applies as much to human skills as to fleets.
Bjorn Hojgaard, CEO of Anglo-Eastern, adds that the industry is no longer dealing with sequential change but with multiple transitions occurring at the same time. New fuels, digitalisation and regulatory pressure are converging simultaneously, leaving little room for gradual adaptation.
“This is not a gradual shift – it is happening in parallel across multiple fronts,” he explains, warning that crews under pressure will default to what they already know if preparation is insufficient.
Captain Ali Ihtiyaroglu of VTS Shipping goes further, framing the challenge as a potential systemic risk. “The risk is that the pace of change outstrips the capacity of maritime education to respond,” he says.
Cybersecurity and generational change add further complexity. Peter Schellenberger of Novomaxis highlights that around 80% of cyber incidents are people-induced, underlining the human factor in digital risk. He also stresses the need for future training to evolve to a new generation of seafarers used to fast-paced, digital-native learning environments.
Andrew Airey, of Highland Maritime, sees an even longer-term future, where the design of vessels may one day make them crewless, with many functions taken over by remote operations and AI-assisted systems. But he is also sceptical about whether such an approach could be applied economically to the global fleet.
Despite the concerns, Henrik Jensen, CEO of Danica, offers a more optimistic assessment. With estimates suggesting around 800,000 seafarers will need upskilling over the next decade, he argues that the target remains achievable.
“Other industries already operate with much higher training ratios,” he notes, suggesting shipping must adopt a similar mindset if it is to remain competitive.
The comparison with aviation, nuclear and advanced manufacturing highlights a broader structural gap: while other sectors treat continuous training as essential infrastructure, shipping has historically approached it as a cost rather than a strategic investment.
Manish Singh of Maris Investments frames the situation most sharply, calling it the industry’s “fourth skills revolution”.
“We have to respond in a fraction of the time we had for the first three,” he says, referring to mechanisation, automation and digitalisation. This new phase, driven by decarbonisation, artificial intelligence and geopolitical disruption, is compressing decades of adaptation into just a few years.
As the industry gathers in Athens, the conclusion emerging from leaders is increasingly consistent: the question is no longer whether shipping is changing, but whether its people can change quickly enough to keep pace.
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