Pathways for a Future-Ready Maritime Transportation Workforce

The maritime transportation sector faces ongoing challenges including renovating aging infrastructure, responding to climate change, keeping pace with new technologies, adapting to broad organizational changes, and meeting the growing demands of a global economy amidst enhanced national security threats. The industry faces persistent labor shortages of skilled personnel who are equipped to deal with these challenges. According to the Maritime Administration, over the prior 10 years, the sector has experienced a continuous decline in personnel due to a myriad of factors, such as retirements, career changes, and hiring and funding challenges. Statistics show that the gap for officer availability in the maritime industry widened to 9% globally in 2023, compared to a 5% shortfall in 2022. With the greying of the workforce, an excessive amount of institutional knowledge has been lost from Federal, State, and local maritime transportation departments, and within the private sector. The maritime industry operates in a challenging and unpredictable environment, making a trained and skilled workforce crucial for ensuring safe and efficient operations. Technology and innovation have emerged as beacons of hope amid these challenges. The current digital revolution, fueled by Artificial Intelligence (AI), has ushered in transformative possibilities for maritime operations such as the imminent arrival of Autonomous Vessels. However, the journey towards embracing AI faces hurdles, particularly in the need for a skilled workforce to support the seamless integration of AI technologies and industry operations. A diverse, multidisciplinary, and well-trained workforce is necessary to successfully respond to these developments. Workforce development is critical to attracting and retaining talented maritime industry employees. This proposal will outline a strategic approach to attract, train, and retain a skilled workforce capable of leveraging new technologies and ensuring the sector's continued growth and efficiency with a specific focus on minority workforce development. By fostering a diverse, knowledgeable, and adaptable workforce, the maritime industry can meet the demands of a global economy and maintain high standards of safety and security. The study, conducted in partnership with One Voice, Mississippi and Eric Shanks, HRC, former Executive Director for The Cypress Mandela Training Center, will explore strategies to enhance workforce quality, promote economic resilience, and foster environmental sustainability with a focus on the Gulf Region. This study will also support the development of a proposal for the National Academy of Sciences Gulf Regional Program funding opportunity on Workforce Development for Energy Transition.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $82500
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3552348331

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Maritime Transportation Research and Education Center (MarTREC)

  University of Arkansas
  4190 Bell Engineering Center
  Fayetteville, AR  United States  72701
• Performing Organizations:

  Jackson State University, Jackson

  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  Jackson, MS  United States  39217-0168
• Principal Investigators:

  Herbert, Berneece

• Start Date: 20240901
• Expected Completion Date: 20260830
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Maritime industry; Personnel development; Recruiting; Social diversity; Workforce
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Marine Transportation; Planning and Forecasting;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01924918
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Maritime Transportation Research and Education Center (MarTREC)
• Contract Numbers: 69A3552348331
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Jul 23 2024 4:26PM