Seaways Focus - January 2025
A global community - and a packed agenda
by John Lloyd, FNI CEO of The Nautical Institute
Happy New year and to all of our readers very best wishes for 2025.
I am sure we will have another interesting year, one in which we will continue to focus on the key themes of The Nautical Institute:
- Members;
- Continuing Professional Development;
- Influencing positive changes in maritime safety.
Membership is at the core of The Nautical Institute, and we are pleased and proud of the membership growth over the past few years. With a total membership now in excess of 13,000 I would encourage every one of you to help continue this growth. I would particularly encourage you to engage with your local companies and maritime training institutions to welcome cadets and others under training to take advantage of the free student membership. Once they have signed up, please allow their voices to be heard and help shape the future of The Nautical Institute. A younger demographic will help us understand the developing needs and expectations of the next generation, and how we can build better for a more sustainable future.
We have a number of new branches developed during 2024 and more to come this year. As a focus point for local and regional maritime expertise I look forward to learning how branches are extending their influence on companies in their region, regulators and as much of the maritime community as possible. Thank you for taking on such a challenging role – the opportunities are endless.
"Continuing Professional Development is at the core of what we do, helping mariners and maritime professionals become better at what they do."
Professional development
Continuing Professional Development is at the core of what we do, helping mariners and maritime professionals become better at what they do. At the end of last year we launched a fabulous book – Teaching Soft Skills to Mariners – which is a handbook helping to guide best practice in the development of leadership and management skills for those in our community. I hope this will become a leading source of reference in this area. Technical skills are important but without the personal skills to apply them in a team environment they cannot be achieving the optimum output.
Courses in our Academy area continue to be in high demand, especially in areas of interest to those who need to prepare for shipboard inspections. Focusing on the expectations of SIRE inspections for the oil sector and RIGHTSHIP inspections for the bulk sector, these courses help learners understand what to expect when the inspector arrives and what they can do to prepare in advance of the inspection. That helps the mariner, their company and the inspector. Watch out for these and other new course announcements during the year.
STCW developments
We will continue to work constructively with colleagues at the IMO as the next version of STCW is developed. This will be especially important as regulators and the wider industry grapple with the challenges and opportunities presented by the need to adopt the next generation of fuels, the use of Artificial Intelligence, possibly the remote operation of ships and potentially a change with how Dynamic Positioning qualifications are managed.
The Nautical Institute has worked with industry for nearly four decades in developing a professional standard for the energy sector that assures high quality training delivered by well-qualified instructors who understand their sector and the risks involved. As technology changes and new requirements emerge the Standard is updated each year, ensuring it remains relevant and highly professional in focus.
We are grateful to the industry leaders who have helped us develop a standard that allows for great mobility of qualified Dynamic Positioning Operators and the employers who recognise the importance of training and professional development in this area.
Retaining the Standard in Part B of STCW will help ensure these high standards continue to have a positive impact on maritime safety for decades to come.
You can learn more about our qualifications here.
Once again – best wishes for 2025 and thank you for being part of our global community