The average age of workers in the maritime industry is 41, and over 75% of workers are over the age of 30. Many mariners are expected to retire soon, which is creating an urgent need for a new generation of highly skilled marine engineers to fill a growing labor gap.
Vanicha McQueen, professor of marine engineering technology at Texas A&M University at Galveston, says the future of ship management has significantly shifted over the past 20 years. Crew sizes continue to shrink as vessels rely more on a mixture of artificial intelligence and automatic control systems for both navigation and propulsion management. Meanwhile, several companies are developing a variety of offshore vessels whose main form of energy production will be nuclear. Nuclear merchant ships and rigs may debut as soon as 2030. As ships become more technologically advanced, so does the need for tech savvy mariners.
McQueen believes these changes mean future marine engineers will need to be multitalented and possess skills that include nuclear engineering, cybersecurity, naval architecture, networking and more to keep disasters and collisions from occurring at sea or in ports.
“As a nation, we need young students and engineers to take our place as we retire,” she said. “Globally, 70% of our exports and imports are transported by ships. Shipping goods is less expensive and more efficient than other forms of transportation. Consequently, without future marine engineers, our supply chain will be immensely crippled.”
Many cruise lines are now utilizing biometric technology. When glitches or complications occur, marine engineers and electro-technical officers will need to know how to repair systems to avoid breaches of security.
“Currently, many companies are beginning to use advanced technologies that include facial recognition and biometrics. Some of these vessels may even use this technology as a form of operational security. By limiting which shipboard personnel are allowed to operate certain pieces of equipment, it provides the ship owner with a way to prevent sabotage by discharge of pollutants. With this technology onboard, marine engineers must have technical competencies to fix, repair and reprogram the system,” McQueen said.
“Emission control areas, or ECAs, are environmentally sensitive areas and have enhanced operational restrictions. These enhanced restrictions have been established to prevent polluting these sensitive areas. An equipment failure that allows the release of contaminants may cause damage to the environment and lead to costly fines.”
Another emerging threat is cyberpiracy, in which hackers gain control of a ship’s automated systems with the goal of stealing information or taking control of the vessels navigation or propulsion systems to extort the vessel’s owners.
“Tomorrow’s marine engineers must be able to understand networking, programming and the new AI engine-monitoring systems. These systems use AI adaptive and optimization controls. To prevent hacking and cyber incursions, mariners must be capable of developing procedures to protect the vessel. It requires a new class of marine engineers that understand how to use a hammer and computer programming,” McQueen said. “The ocean is cluttered with different size vessels, and it is absolutely essential that ships have a cyberattack prevention plan for their vessel or they risk being targeted.”
McQueen said there has been a rise in maritime high schools with programs designed to encourage students interested in a future career in marine engineering.
“We try to visit every maritime high school in the area to share information about the maritime industry. We bring the simulator and give the students virtual tours of various vessels. This allows students to roam through the ship’s compartments and point out various pieces of equipment,” she said. “The beauty of marine engineering is that most of the skills you learn on a ship are transferable ashore. This gives marine engineers options and plenty of opportunities.”
