Currently, the global shipping industry is facing an “invisible crisis”: there are more ships, but not enough people.
According to the latest report from the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), the global shortage of senior officers will exceed 20,000 in the next five years, with China accounting for nearly one-third of that shortage. At the same time, the structural contradiction of the long training cycle and slow supply pace of traditional seafarers is becoming increasingly prominent. How to solve the dilemma of “ships waiting for people”?
A “one-year” crew training program targeting non-nautical college graduates and above is quietly expanding across several major seafarer training bases, becoming an “emergency supplementary channel” for the industry’s talent supply.
Taking Tianjin Maritime College as an example, its first “One-Year Third Officer and Third Engineer Training Program” for non-nautical college graduates and above nationwide recently officially commenced.
“In terms of curriculum design and teaching models, we have broken away from the traditional ‘one-size-fits-all’ teaching framework, focusing on ‘theoretical depth + practical strengthening’ and ‘skill cultivation + job suitability,’ to promote a reform in the talent cultivation model characterized by ‘precision, high intensity, and emphasis on practical skills,’” Wang Mingchun, Vice President of Tianjin Maritime College, told reporters. As the global shipping industry accelerates its transformation towards “intelligence and green development,” the college aims to rapidly cultivate seafarers who meet international conventions, domestic regulations, and the needs of shipping companies, comprehensively upgrading its faculty allocation and practical training conditions.
In terms of faculty, the college has not only assigned dedicated class administrators but also formed a teaching team centered around experienced “dual-qualified” teachers. For practical training, the college has invested in advanced equipment such as high-fidelity navigation simulators and new-generation electronic chart systems, creating training scenarios that seamlessly connect with real ship environments, guiding students to “learn for immediate application, train for immediate readiness.”
Can one year be enough to complete the training?
In response, Dai Guangshu, Deputy Director of the Navigation Technology Department, replied: “Our curriculum design is like a ‘surgical operation,’ removing some basic courses less relevant to job competency. The one-year study is divided into theoretical and practical phases, strictly following the ‘Seafarer Training Syllabus (2021 Edition),’ helping students master professional skills step-by-step from shallow to deep.”
“This is the ‘Ship Handling Simulator Training Room.’ Relying on computer imaging technology and virtual reality simulation technology, students can immerse themselves in experiencing severe weather like strong winds and waves, poor visibility, as well as emergency situations such as main engine failure, steering gear malfunction, and ship fires, thereby forming a more vivid and concrete understanding of navigation and ship handling,” Dai Guangshu explained. The college has nearly a hundred on-campus training facilities, including a waterborne teaching and training center and a full-simulation ship handling simulator, all open to the training program, which is also a major highlight of the course.
“On the simulator, we can quickly combine theoretical knowledge with practical operation, truly ‘digesting’ what we’ve learned,” shared Luo Tao, a student from Sichuan. He had brief experience as a sailor and chose to further his studies here precisely because of the clear career progression path for seafarers. “In one year, I will definitely hold the certificate and step onto the deck,” Luo Tao said confidently.
For a long time, the training of ship officers and engineers in China has mainly relied on three-year vocational college or four-year undergraduate education. Although this provides a solid foundation and strong development potential, facing the reality of increasing volatility in the shipping market and the rapid iteration of smart ships, its “slow supply” characteristic struggles to match the industry’s “fast hiring” demand.
It is reported that as an important seafarer training institution in North China, Tianjin Maritime College has a stable training capacity of 14 classes per year, with 40 students per class, in its two main majors: Navigation Technology and Marine Engineering.
Wang Mingchun stated that in the future, the college will adhere to a development path of “combining long-term and short-term, categorized training”: For long-term planning, degree education will maintain a stable scale of 10 classes per year, continuously supplying the industry with professionals with solid foundations and strong development potential. For short-term response, it specifically plans a scale of 4 classes for “short, flat, and fast” specialized training, aiming to further alleviate the current urgent talent needs of shipping companies, help more non-nautical graduates quickly obtain professional qualifications, enhance their employment competitiveness, and form a strong supplement to degree education.
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