Future of seafaring has people at its heart

As a post-pandemic world edges closer, we renew our efforts for members, says Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson.

We are only a month into the new year, and it is starting to look and feel very familiar. We must be careful not to let ourselves become overwhelmed by the ongoing coronavirus crisis, or indeed be complacent about its impact. It is clear, the public health guidelines must be complied with if we are ever to beat the virus and get back to anything approaching normality.

The bad news is the Union's offices are closed again but our tremendous staff are in full work from home mode. Our frontline welfare staff – mainly those at Mariners’ Park, continue to support our residents and those we care for. It was fantastic news that Jane Davies, our development manager at Nautilus, was recognised for her welfare work during the pandemic by the Merchant Navy Welfare Board at its annual welfare awards.

We are seeing new restrictions being placed on international travel and new checks and requirements at borders, none of which will come as good news to the hundreds of thousands of seafarers caught up by the global crew change crisis.

Far too many seafarers haven't been repatriated since the first wave of the virus struck and are now facing their second full year on their ships. For many others they are now beginning contracts unsure when they will return home again. Many seafarers are now working on much-reduced terms and conditions in order to preserve their jobs. Some seafarers work on vessels whose charterers have insisted on clauses which actively discourage crew changes.

This is the reality for our members too and it requires a strong union, united to defend members' interests, to ensure that short-term measures do not become permanent erosions of their pay and conditions. I remain very concerned about the longer-term consequences of the pandemic and the way seafarers have been treated.

More positively, we welcome the news that more and more vaccines are becoming available and we are working to ensure that, as key workers, seafarers are prioritised once those at immediate risk have been vaccinated.

There are immense logistical issues around vaccinating seafarers here and abroad especially with the need for two doses several weeks apart and the compatibility of different vaccines. The industry is working on these issues and the unions are engaged but we will need government support and commitment.

Another factor impacting on our industry is of course Brexit. Now that the UK has left the EU, the recently concluded Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) has added to the already difficult circumstances as ports and supply chains organise new ways of doing business to cope with increased border checks and inevitable paperwork and bureaucracy. This is hopefully a short-term issue and soon trade will flow as new systems cope with the avalanche of additional paperwork.

When the EU-UK TCA was signed, we extended a cautious welcome as the alternative of emerging from the transition with no deal was too horrific to contemplate, especially for an industry at the centre of 95% of all UK trade.

However, as one government official said in a Brexit preparation meeting we attended in January: 'We should think of this as the end of the beginning rather than the beginning of the end'.

There is still much to be organised and agreed as part of the TCA, the future mutual recognition of professional qualifications – including the Certificate of Competency (CoC). Nearly 4,000 UK CoC holders work on vessels registered in EU member states such as the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Malta and Cyprus. Securing the necessary endorsements for third country nationals is challenging but we are working hard to ensure that it is addressed and that transitioning to the new arrangements is as smooth as possible.

We continue to work on support for members facing financial hardship due to Covid-19 restrictions. We are campaigning for government clarity over UK Seafarers Earnings Deduction status. Please remember that any member suffering financial hardship should contact the Seafarers’ Advice & Information Line (SAIL).

As we face another year of uncertainty, my advice to members remains the same – please stay safe; try to look after your mental and physical health as well as you can; and contact us if you need help. Wherever you are, so are we.

Maritime employers must deliver on their commitment to provide a decent pension for seafarers, says Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson.

With the world feeling so much in flux, it is sometimes hard to focus on long-term decisions, but thinking about your retirement mustn't wait until it's too late.

At Nautilus we work in many ways to ensure that all our members have access to a decent pension. But our members often work for employers who have no interest in securing a decent retirement for their seafarers and only want to do the minimum or nothing at all.

Of course, many of our members work for employers abroad and must make their own provisions for retirement.

Many governments seem to believe that their citizens should work for longer and longer so they can move the state pension age further and further away. There is no doubt that we are all living longer but maritime professionals do a tough job and should be able to retire at a reasonable age. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) recognised this with the adoption of Convention no. 71 on seafarers' pensions. Dating back to 1946, it includes provisions for seafarers to be able to retire from the age of 55! Sadly it is not widely ratified.

In the UK, auto enrolment has meant that pensions are more and more the responsibility of the employer with less reliance on the state pension, which is far from generous. Despite a decent pension being a vital element of a fair workplace, too many employers treat them as a regulatory hurdle, offering only the minimum legal requirements and not considering their responsibilities for their employees' financial security, not least beyond the time they stop working.

In the Netherlands, our members are protected by more generous state provision supplemented by industry-wide pension schemes covering the merchant navy, dredging, and inland navigation. In 2019 we joined unions across the country to fight the government's attempts to increase the retirement age.

I was recently asked to present to the Merchant Navy Pensions Employers Group and I called on employers to support the industry-wide retirement scheme – the Ensign Retirement Plan ('Ensign') – and to fully commit to its longer term success.

Ensign is a well-run, quality pension scheme. It provides long-term retirement solutions for maritime professionals beyond the time they stop work. This is important given the pension flexibilities the UK government has introduced.
Pension funds are heavily regulated, and the costs associated with running a pension scheme for sea and shore staff are high. Ensign is a cost-effective solution.

Why don't those employers work with the rest of the maritime industry to support one pension scheme and let the specialists take on the administration?

Nautilus membership surveys show that seafarers place a good pension scheme as one of the top three benefits they look for. If companies want to attract and retain the best seafarers, they must look at their long-term retirement needs. And these needs can be best provided for by Ensign.

Regrettably too many in the shipping industry have shown nothing but contempt for the goal of ensuring decent pensions for our members for the future.

What better way to reward and motivate our most valuable asset – maritime and shipping professionals – than to commit to the provision of decent incomes in retirement?

Good mental health policies promote productivity and therefore profitability. What is the shipping industry waiting for, asks Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson

At the end of last year, Nautilus conducted a survey to gauge the impact of the coronavirus crew change crisis, which revealed not surprisingly that around 50% of members were reconsidering their career at sea because of the way they had been treated. At the same time, a report from the World Maritime University (WMU) found that underreporting and lack of enforcement of hours of work was endemic and resulting in exhaustion for seafarers.

Not only do these two issues raise serious concerns about the physical health of seafarers, they are having an increasing effect on the mental wellbeing of those working at sea.

I recently joined with colleagues from the WMU, the ITF Seafarers' Trust and the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency to talk about the WMU report, and what can be done to ensure it does not gather dust on the shelf but acts as a driver for change and an end to the culture of adjustment the report highlighted and the long hours culture in shipping.

The world cannot continue to ignore seafarers and expect them to work ever longer and harder. Industry, unions, and governments must come together for an in-depth look at the sector and how it functions at all levels.

It is not simply the lack of enforcement of hours of work regulations that needs to change, but the reasons behind it – that seafarers are working far more hours onboard than the legislation allows, than is safe for individuals or safe for all those working at sea. Seafarers' mental and physical wellbeing needs to be a priority.

Progress on mental health awareness for seafarers is coming. This month Nautilus signed a mental health pledge launched by industry body Maritime UK. It commits the Union to improving the quality of mental health and wellbeing provision for both those who work for us and those we represent.

We are also launching a new mental health app for Union members and our staff, in partnership with Endsleigh Insurance and Health Assured.

This month sees the launch of practical guidelines for shipping companies on improving mental wellbeing, which we have developed alongside sister unions and the UK Chamber of Shipping.

Most episodes of mental ill health are short lived. Early interventions, along with a holistic company-wide approach to wellbeing, can negate more serious long-term problems, as well as create a positive working environment for all.

Leading a cross-border trade union organisation, I am always interested in what part culture plays in our approaches to work-life balance, and it should be no surprise to anyone that across the Union our approaches are very similar.

The Netherlands is arguably ahead of the UK in facing up to the challenges of mental health for seafarers. My colleagues in our Rotterdam office ran a series of workshops in 2019 under the theme of 'Mental fitness pays off', where a strategy to mainstream mental health and encourage positive action from shipowners was discussed.

The overriding outcome of that initiative was being able to demonstrate to shipping companies that good mental health policies are a 'win-win' situation. Productivity increases and therefore so does profitability, alongside the reputational benefits from being a forward-thinking organisation.

This is the message I want everybody to embrace. It is good to talk about mental health and it is good to act on improving mental health. We need our members to understand the damage done by working excessive hours and how the institutional failure to record hours of work and rest allows a long hours culture to be normalised. We need employers to recognise the benefits of looking after the mental and physical health of their seafarers – their greatest assets – and we need the public and legislators to understand the role of seafarers in global supply chains and the need to invest in them and respect their fundamental rights to decent work and a safe working environment.

Shipowners must remember it was the goodwill of seafarers that kept business trading during the pandemic, Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson says

Covid-19 continues to dominate much of the Union's work, especially with news of infections once again rising across the world. However, there is positive news, with the increasing number of vaccines being approved and made available, and the resulting rates of vaccination.

I have, alongside the Chamber of Shipping, written to the UK maritime minister calling on the government to establish an international seafarer vaccination hub in the UK.

There are a number of such hubs being created across the globe, and it is hoped they will provide a 'one stop shop' for seafarers of all nationalities to access vaccines while their vessels are in ports and work to avoid exacerbating the crew change crisis, which continues to affect hundreds of thousands of seafarers.

Development of a single-dose vaccine would undoubtedly make this work easier, removing the additional burden being placed on seafarers who must ensure they are able to access two doses of the same vaccine within the recommended time.

Vaccination of seafarers will feature in discussions at the International Labour Organization (ILO) Special Tripartite Committee (STC) meeting taking place at the end of April.

The STC meeting of governments, shipowners and seafarers' representatives is primarily meeting to discuss the impact of the pandemic and the necessary improvements needed to the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC). The MLC is a living document which is intended to continuously improve, and the last 12 months have highlighted how much still needs to be achieved – when governments can so easily ignore the existing rights of seafarers, never mind any necessary improvements.

I believe the coronavirus has highlighted the need for a global governance review in shipping.

The fragmentation of the industry and the lack of a genuine link have long been issues in shipping. The ease with which seafarers’ rights have been taken away shows why the effective jurisdiction and control of ships and seafarers is vital. It is time for a rethink.

In the last 18 months, seafarers have been denied repatriation, denied medical care ashore,had contract lengths extended and been left to personally deal with the financial implications of shipping companies hiding themselves in offshore tax havens referred to as 'flags of convenience'.

If the protection the MLC stands for means anything in future, then seafarers' rights must be respected. Not just in good times but in the difficult times when seafarers need protecting the most.

I shall be reminding shipowners of the lengths that seafarers have gone to, to keep world trade flowing, when I lead an ITF delegation to another ILO meeting in the coming weeks; this time to discuss the global minimum wage for seafarers.

Although this wage is recommendatory and does not directly affect Nautilus members, it is the global minimum floor and a building block that impacts on other global negotiations. The outcome of these talks will send a message to the world's seafarers – when they went the extra mile and kept global supply chains moving throughout the pandemic, and kept shipowners in business, it did not go unnoticed.

Please look for the relaunch of the website fairpayatsea.org and @FairPayAtSea on Twitter to discover more about these ILO discussions.

Covid-19 has exposed systemic failures in the protection of seafarers' rights. It is time to create a fairer future for all, Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson says.

Covid still dominates headlines around the world and continues to influence much of the work at Nautilus International. Whether it is the alarming rise in cases in India, the vaccine roll-out or the more positive news that many countries are enjoying a return to something like normal.

Looking to the future, Nautilus has begun to lead a conversation about what Building Back Better means for maritime. I have been making the case that we need to be Building Back Fairer (not just better). The pandemic has highlighted longstanding issues in our industry, and if we are to retain the key workers that keep the world moving, there is desperate need for reform. It was therefore pleasing to secure a resolution from the ILO STC meeting calling on the UN to establish an interagency taskforce to address these systemic failings. 

Nautilus has also laid out a new manifesto detailing what changes are needed in the industry, and we will be calling on governments to make them happen.

The first of these is to officially designate seafarers as key workers, globally, immediately and permanently. The Covid-19 lockdown saw ships being refused entry to ports, seafarers denied shore leave and medical attention, repatriation blocked, and workers unable to join their vessels. Obligations stemming from global conventions on seafarers' rights were abandoned and many seafarers are still being denied their rights.

The effects of this pandemic are going to be around for some years to come, and signs are that similar global events are likely in the future. Action must be taken now to ensure that seafarers' rights are not swept aside and sacrificed.

Alongside this, the industry needs to address the ongoing issues of fatigue, piracy, social dumping, abandonment, and of course, flags of convenience (FOCs). Never in the 70-plus year history of the FOC campaign has the problem been laid out so starkly as it has during this pandemic.

The utter inability of FOCs to fulfil their obligations to the seafarers, ships and ship owners has exacerbated the crew change crisis, and left many companies, especially in cruise, seeking financial support from the states in which they are ultimately owned or from which they are operated.

The lack of accountability and transparency in the industry is a major contributor to the sea blindness that affects us all. If we are to build back fairer for the future and continue to attract the best talent into the industry, this must be addressed. Countries have had a stark reminder of the vital role that shipping industry and our members play in global supply chains over the last 18 months, and we must ensure that seafarers are not swept back out of sight and out of mind.

Building back fairer in maritime gives us the perfect opportunity to look at where we want the global industry to be in future. At Nautilus we don’t just talk the talk, we also walk the walk, and we are already on a journey down that road with our 2030 Vision to adapt the Union for the future.

It is not always easy to make changes. For example, many of us are rightly proud of the maritime training we received when we first embarked on a career at sea and may not understand why it is in need of change.

But the world is changing quickly; new technology and the rise of automation (amongst other disrupters) are completely altering the shape of life at sea. We need to ensure that we can attract and retain a diverse cohort of new entrants into the industry, as well as training them to meet and excel in this rapidly changing environment.

I look forward to driving forward more change in the Union and in the industry, and invite you to join me. As we build back better, we must build back fairer and ensure those in power have a plan to respond and deliver those opportunities.

The TUC is leading a UK review of trade union strategies and policies dealing with sexual harassment. Nautilus welcomes the union federation's leadership on this important matter, and acknowledges that the FNV and SGB have been leaders in the struggle against sexual harassment in the Netherlands and Switzerland, general secretary Mark Dickinson says.

The trade union movement is often accused of being slow to react to change. Recent press reports about sexual harassment in the workplace should be enough to shatter any complacency that might have existed in the labour movement.

At Nautilus we have led the way in our industry and as an employer in making sure that there is no place for bullying, harassment, or discrimination in the shipping industry or in our workplaces.

At the turn of the millennium, we worked with the RMT union and our social partner the UK Chamber of Shipping to develop guidelines for the industry and resources to support the eradication of harassment and bullying at sea.

Not wanting to rest on our laurels, we took this ground-breaking work to Europe and, with the support of the European Commission, the European Transport Workers' Federation and the European Community Shipowners Associations, adopted and developed our guidelines and resources for the European shipping Industry. Those guidelines went on to be further developed by the International Transport Workers’ Federation and the International Chamber of Shipping, and are now incorporated into the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, as amended.

Job done? Harassment and bullying eradicated at sea? No chance. Regrettably, this is still a fact of life at sea for too many seafarers, especially females. It is an issue we must not lose sight of and must address. And as recent press reports have shown, we must start with our own houses and get them in order, even if we think we do not have a problem. Not least because lack of reporting has been shown to make indicators extremely unreliable.

So, when I was asked by the TUC to join a working group to look at ways to tackle the issue of sexual harassment and devise a framework to support trade unions on this important issue, I was pleased to do so. 

As the general secretary of a union of maritime professionals, I remain committed to the commitments set out in our rule book, which demands of me that I uphold the promotion of equality for all, not least through our employment practices, and actively oppose all forms of harassment, prejudice, and unfair discrimination. As a father of a daughter who faces 'everyday sexism' it is an issue that I am also personally motivated to help eradicate.

In the cases which have recently come to light in the trade union movement, female members and staff have reported cases ranging from lewd comments and innuendo of the sort that my daughter faces daily, to serious assault and even rape. This is the shocking reality that women face every day. I know sexual harassment is not exclusively a women's issue, but it is predominantly an issue affecting women. And by responding to these issues, we can make the work experience better for all.

I believe we have the policies and procedures in place to deal with sexual harassment, including a code of conduct and policy on mutual respect which applies to staff and members. We have procedures to handle complaints. To make sure we do not fall into complacency I will soon be initiating a confidential and anonymous staff survey. We will use the results to take any steps needed to develop further our policies and procedures.

I do not believe we have a problem at Nautilus. I have always been proud of our members and our staff for their understanding of mutual respect. I want to ensure that we evaluate all our policies and procedures to ensure that our people and our members are supported, respected and safe in all their engagements with the Union.

Beyond that, we need also to redouble our efforts to eradicate all forms of harassment and bullying in the maritime industry. There is more work to be done and we need to get on with it.

The Union has been fighting to maintain jobs, pay and conditions across its three branches this month, general secretary Mark Dickinson says.

The last month has been a particularly busy one for the Union on the industrial front. Actions in Switzerland, the Netherlands and now in the UK show how determined Nautilus International is to defend members’ interests and work in support of our Build Back Fairer campaign.

The move to conduct an industrial action ballot of members working for P&O Ferries on the Dover-Calais route has been made only at the end of months of trying to find a resolution with management. A resolution which does not include tearing up the agreed collective bargaining agreement (CBA) and the established safe working practices that it incorporates. The decision to ballot for industrial action is never an easy one and is not something Nautilus does lightly. We pride ourselves on working with employers to seek the best, safe and secure workplaces for our members.

Those members – maritime and shipping professionals – are passionate about their work, and they are passionate about executing their responsibilities to the highest standards, including ensuring that their ships, and those who are onboard with them, are safe.

The dispute with P&O Ferries goes to the heart of what being a trade union member is about – speaking up when companies make unilateral changes to safe working practices and refusing to accept the erosion of a CBA and decent work by the introduction of precarious agency-based employment.

Last month, members in the Netherlands agreed overwhelmingly to accept a new social plan at Essberger when the company agreed to return to the negotiating table following threats by members to take further action. These members were opposed to their employer making people compulsorily redundant and refusing to honour the existing CBA. Our Netherlands branch has been working since June, when the company put forward a final offer, to seek improvements – and they were ultimately successful.

Combined action by our Switzerland and Netherlands branches ensured that outstanding wages and social benefits at SijFa Cruises were paid to crew members. This has been a long running campaign for justice for our members and involved legal actions and dockside protests.

The public, fed by some media, often associate trade unions with strike action and always for more pay. Whilst it is true that being in a union means your pay will generally be higher than those who are not in a union, going 'out on strike' is actually very rare. In my 21 years at Nautilus, I cannot recall a time when members voted to fully withdraw their labour and take strike action. It is not generally what maritime professionals do. We prefer instead to opt for a collaborative partnership, reasoned argument, and fair settlements as reward for our professionalism. But some employers are beyond the pale.

The decision to ballot members for industrial action on P&O Ferries does not signify the end of discussions. We will continue to call upon management to return to the negotiating table and discuss how we work together to defeat the low-cost competition introduced on the short sea as a consequence of management’s disastrous handling of the redundancies last year.

I hope management at P&O Ferries take this opportunity to rethink their decision to cast aside our jointly agreed CBA and join Nautilus around the negotiating table to agree a deal for the future which protects members' terms and conditions and provides a safe and secure workplace.

To the rest of the industry, whether that be in the UK, the Netherlands or Switzerland, please have no doubt. We are here to defend our members' interests and we will do that with you or against you if you choose that path. If you do choose that path, expect a robust response.

Support our maritime key workers now and in the future, general secretary Mark Dickinson says.

This time last year I was speculating on whether the coronavirus pandemic and the crew change crisis would soon be coming to an end. Many governments were beginning to unlock – but this turned out to ultimately be a false dawn as infection rates grew towards the end of the year.

That crisis is not making the headlines as much as it was, but there are still in the region of 250,000 seafarers stuck at sea, with the same number if not more stuck at home. This is not going to change any time soon if governments do not co-ordinate better to keep supply chains moving.

To do that, seafarers need to be vaccinated and permitted to do their essential work, and with news that only 15% of seafarers globally are vaccinated, we are heading for more disruption. It is going to get worse before it gets better, and that's before the industry digests the huge recruitment problem it is going to face in the very near future.

With all this for a backdrop, it feels somewhat refreshing to be looking at my diary and seeing upcoming commitments such as our Netherlands Branch annual meeting, the Trades Union Congress in the UK and various activities as part of the biennial London International Shipping Week (LISW). It feels as if things are getting back to some semblance of normal, which is reassuring.

As the Netherlands Branch meetings this month show, despite the partial relaxation of lockdown, Nautilus continues to function despite the pandemic. To do that we have embraced technological developments, especially in the field of hosting online meetings. Over the past year, the move to online has meant that many more members have been able to attend meetings. In future we will look to continue to support this with hybrid conferences and meetings and seek to capture the benefit of both physical and online participation.

At the TUC Congress we will be highlighting our Build Back Fairer campaign, calling for all seafarers to be designated as key workers and calling on the UK maritime industry to support a new era of accountability and transparency in the shipping industry. We will also be calling for more support for maritime training so that our members have the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in the future and be able to respond to the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, especially regarding new technology and decarbonisation.

Nautilus will be represented at LISW, where we will launch our Sea to City networking project. The first cohort of mentees have been working with their mentors for a few months now, and I look forward to hearing about how they are getting on and encouraging more seafarers to consider maritime professional services once they have decided to move ashore.

At the LISW conference, Stephen Cotton, general secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation, will be joined on stage by Guy Platten, chief executive of the International Chamber of Shipping, to debate the key trends and challenges in shipping and how Covid-19 has and will affect global trade.

So, as the summer ends and we pick up the pace of activity towards the back end of 2021, I hope that we will finally see Covid-19 in retreat and begin to debate and assess the damage that was done to our industry and to our key workers. It would be a total injustice to the suffering of our maritime professionals, and to all the world's seafarers, if nationally, regionally and internationally we did not engage in a debate to agree what action needs to be taken to ensure this never happens again.

Key workers are always key workers and not just when there is a pandemic. Let's all commit to some deep soul searching, frank debate and mutual action to improve the conditions under which our maritime professionals live and work.

Workers' rights and good quality employment must be at the heart of any transition to a green economy, general secretary Mark Dickinson says

With the ever-present fog of Covid-19, it is sometimes hard to see what we might have been doing these last two years if it hadn't been so dominant.

Back in 2018 a young Swedish girl named Greta Thunberg had just begun hitting the headlines with her 'Skolstrejk för klimatet' – 'school strike for climate'.

She would go on to be one of the best-known climate activists, accusing the United Nations of .stealing her childhood and her dreams'.

This summer, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report stating that man-made climate change is 'inevitable and irreversible', and in November the port city of Glasgow will play host to the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP 26).

Against this backdrop, the maritime industry is being called on to play its part in emissions reduction more than ever.

It is timely, therefore, that I have been working with the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) to produce a Sustainable Shipping policy, which calls for large scale reform to improve standards in the maritime sector and demands that maritime professionals be placed at the heart of a 'just transition' to a green economy.

This policy sits alongside the Union’s ongoing Build Back Fairer campaign, designed to inspire a better maritime industry which truly values the seafarers and other maritime professionals who drive world trade.

The policy focuses on eight key areas, including the need for rapid and comprehensive decarbonisation, the importance of the human element and
training, and the need for real investment from government and industry.

Trade unions including Nautilus International and the Nautilus Federation will be working hard to ensure the maritime industry takes the climate emergency seriously, and together we will be building links with other environmental organisations and social movements to help create a just transition that provides a fair future for all maritime shipping professionals.

Decarbonisation of the global shipping industry can be an opportunity for all workers, if they are active participants. Health and safety, training, improving working and living conditions, and protecting jobs are at the core of what Nautilus International does for its members, and we will continue to work with governments and employers through collective bargaining and our campaigns work to achieve our aims.

The future of maritime must have seafarers at its heart, Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson says

What is the future of maritime and jobs in shipping? At the risk of mangling too many jokes: put three maritime professionals in a room and you’ll get four answers.

What most agree on is that the maritime professional of the future will be strikingly different. The march of automation, greater digitalisation, and the transition to low carbon fuels and new propulsion systems will have a profound effect on the way ships are run – and require new skills and ways of working onboard and ashore.

Nautilus members are at the forefront of these changes at sea and ashore, being the guardians of our ocean and river-going vessels, our border-hopping ferries and all vessels in between. Our members keep this industry moving 24/7; they are highly educated professionals, and many are thirsty for new knowledge. They want to remain at thevanguard of the digital future.

That digital future could usher in many new ways of working. It could, for example, help us realise the diversity challenges we face within the industry. Shore-based jobs remotely operating vessels could offer opportunities for fully trained seafarers with young children more flexibility in employment. It could equally help seafarers who cannot maintain a medical certificate to work at sea.

But it could also bring disruption. Fears that digitalisation could displace existing jobs should not be ignored. Upskilling and retraining of the existing workforce must be at the core of the just transition to our digital future that we have argued for.

That is why I became a Maritime Skills Commissioner and took part in a review to breathe fresh life into our cadet training programmes, to ensure that our highly valued seafarers remain in demand at the top of their game for years to come. I am therefore determined that the recommendations made in the Maritime Skills Commission (MSC) Seafarer Cadet Review Report are realised.

New modern training curriculums with up-to-date technical and leadership skills embedded will ensure our seafarers can be at the vanguard of this digital future.

A new MSC initiative – the Cadet Training Implementation Board – will ensure those recommendations are realised, working with the Department for Transport, Maritime & Coastguard Agency, UK Chamber of Shipping, and Trinity House, among others.

I will continue to lobby for UK seafarer training to be fully funded by government, as it is in the Netherlands and in most of the EU, and for cadets to be given access to modern technology, such as simulators and blended learning tools. I firmly believe that will ensure we maintain our leadership in maritime expertise – and provide access to good quality employment for our future members.

As part of 2030 Vision, Nautilus will also be looking at our offering to existing members, but I want to ensure that we do more for those specifically seeking continuous professional development to forge a long-term career in maritime. I am determined that Nautilus is thinking outside the box to create new and strong collaborations and partnerships to guarantee our members have the best opportunities available, now and in the future.