This year’s European Shipping Week is just around the corner, and ETF and its affiliates will be present at several events.
If you’re interested in the social side of shipping in Europe, find us at the events and join the debate!
In addition to an event on seafarers’ employment organised by ETF affiliates, we will be involved in a number of other events together with the European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA). We will be presenting results from joint projects and upcoming activities, as well as offer a better insight into the perspective of seafarers in terms of skills needs, digitalization, and equal opportunities.
Register here.
9:00 – 10:30
Seafarers’ Employment – How to make EU Shipping Attractive
The event is organised by the Norwegian Seafarers’ Union and supported by ETF
Following the initiative of the Norwegian Seafarers’ Union, the ETF is hosting the event in collaboration with a number of our affiliates from France, Sweden, and Spain.
We would like to invite the audience to think about ways to make the seafaring profession truly attractive to European maritime professionals. In many European countries, the number of EU/EEA seafarers is declining or stagnating, and the number of vessels registered in the EU overall is falling. At the same time, however, there is a growing shortage in particular of chief engineers and high-skilled officers. These highly professional workers are of significant importance if Europe is to develop further and ensure the sustainability of its maritime economy and maritime clusters.
In light of this, what can Europe do to attract more Europeans to work at sea? The event will base the discussion on the realities and national examples from various European countries – Norway, France, Sweden, and Spain. We invite Members of European Parliament, Member States representatives, the European Commission, shipowners and all other relevant stakeholders to join us in opening the discussion on which measures to adopt and to engage in the debate.
14:00 – 17:30
Enhanced participation of women in European shipping industry
The event is organised by ECSA and supported by ETF
Gender equality is at the heart of the EU’s fundamental values for sustainable and inclusive growth. The European social partners for maritime transport, the ETF and the ECSA, are active in promoting gender diversity and equality of opportunity to attract and retain new talent in the shipping industry for strong, prosperous and socially sustainable maritime clusters in Europe.
Shipping has traditionally been a male-dominated sector and ETF and ECSA share the view that a more gender-balanced industry would improve workplace culture, sustainability and productivity.
The event will feature a line-up of persons from the academic world, EU and international organisations, employees and employers, influencers, who will tell their story, the challenges and opportunities arising and practical suggestions on what can be done or done better to help shape the way forward.
Waves of change: Future Proofing – Skills and Safety
The increased digitalisation and automation and new environmental requirements are changing the maritime industry. The change also affects the maritime professions.
These transformations require close attention from the social partners. They have direct implications in terms of training and skills, the nature and structure of onboard roles, working conditions, safety and security, and overall well-being of seafarers.
The seafarer education and training need to keep up with the change and try to anticipate the future mariner’s role on board. The vessels are already today filled with the high technology equipment, moving jobs and control away from ships to shore, and the amount, role and significance of the technology will increase. Machine learning, data analytics and other means of harnessing modern technology to support the safe and efficient navigation and operation of the vessel are being introduced and implemented at a rapid pace.
Because of this, in 2018 ECSA and ETF spearheaded the ‘SkillSea’ project for a Blueprint for a skills strategy for the shipping sector, funded under the Erasmus + programme. At this event, they will reflect on results the project has gathered so far and talk about future activities aimed at increasing the numbers of maritime professionals.
ESW2020 Flagship Conference
ETF Head of Maritime, Estelle Brentnall, will speak at the panel on Trade and Competitiveness. During the afternoon Safe and Social Shipping Panel Discussion, ETF Acting General Secretary Livia Spera will be representing European maritime professionals.
Join to learn about the current state of seafaring jobs in Europe and ways to make improvements in this key European industry!
If you can’t make it to the events, but still want to follow the debate, make sure you follow ETF Maritime Transport Section on Twitter and Facebook!
You can find more information about the European Shipping Week on the event’s website and Twitter account.