Abstract:

Living and working at sea requires a unique blend of knowledge, skills and competences. The training of seafarers faces the paradox of the growing demand for specialized technical skills, driven by technical development, automation and digitalization, contrasts with the practical and comprehensive nature of the professions onboard.

Traditionally, learning and training of seafarers was based on direct onboard tutoring and on-the-job training, recorded in notebooks that proved the acquisition of skills by the trainees. Although effective in developing highly specialised technical knowledge and skills such as leadership, initiative, and decision-making under pressure, this model has proven inconsistent, as it is limited to a specific reality, depends on the quality of the tutor and the context, and creates difficulties in obtaining formal recognition from third parties, being largely replaced by formal land-based training in the classroom.

Currently, the complexity of ships, constant change, and process digitalization require a comprehensive and specialised technical preparation, increased with transversal non-technical skills. The challenge lies in integrating a wide range of technical knowledge with critical skills and ensuring that learning is contextualised onboard. To that end, it is necessary to rethink teaching and training, integrating innovative methods that balance theoretical classroom instruction with operational practice.

This study aims to critically analyse the teaching-learning system for maritime professionals, identifying pedagogical gaps in the face of 21st-century demands and evaluating emerging methodologies and tools with the potential to reduce the mismatch between land-based training and onboard practice. A comprehensive analysis is intended that includes different sectors such as civil and military, and a wide spectrum of professional specialities, adopting a historical-prospective approach based on literature review and conceptual evaluation of emerging educational technologies.

Solutions such as virtual reality, augmented reality, or mobile microlearning stand out as capable of enabling active learning methodologies in environments with connectivity restrictions. These technologies can modernise competency recording, allow for safe and repeated training of complex procedures, and reinforce critical skills such as decision-making and failure analysis.

It is concluded that it is necessary to strike a balance between specialized onboard training and comprehensive classroom training. The strategic adoption of disruptive technologies to support education can increase training efficiency, preserve the effectiveness of experiential learning, and prepare seafarers for the demands of the digital age. This article contributes to the systematisation of knowledge and to guiding future empirical studies on the implementation and impact of these innovations in the maritime sector.

Keywords:

Emerging Educational Technologies, Experiential/Workplace Learning, Maritime education and training (MET), Onboard Contextualized Education, Technical and Non-Technical Skills, Virtual and Augmented Reality, Technology-Enhanced Learning.