Shipping has grown very good at proving things on paper. The harder part is knowing whether the people and systems behind that paper will hold up when it counts.

Technology reaches the bridge faster than the rules on how crews learn to use it. That gap may go unnoticed in an audit. It becomes much harder to ignore when an officer faces an unfamiliar system under pressure.

Shipowners cannot wait for regulation to catch up. Ensuring crews can confidently operate the technology already on board is a responsibility that sits with management today.

Every shipowner has a file showing that each officer on board is certified. Very few can show that those officers understand the integrated alarms, remote diagnostics and AI tools the company has installed. That is the risk a CrewConnect Global panel in Manila was asked to examine.

The regulatory timeline is the first problem. The last comprehensive review of STCW was the 1995 amendments, and the current revision is expected to take around ten years. Bridge technology changes far faster than that. A cadet who starts training today may qualify on equipment the convention has never considered. Even the basics are loose. STCW requires six months of bridge watchkeeping for cadets but never says the ship has to be at sea during that time.

The second problem is liability. Carl Martin Faannessen of Noatun Maritime said technostress sits between competence and comprehension. A crew can hold every certificate and still lose track of what an automated system is doing. When that leads to a casualty, investigators find a clean paper trail and blame procedures or training. The owner’s management system ends up under scrutiny alongside the crew.

The third problem is that the industry already has the tools and is not using them. Petros Achtypis of Prevention at Sea said simulators can measure decision time, where an officer is looking and how well they filter out alarms. Guidance on assessing behavioural competence has existed for close to a decade. Few companies apply it.

The MCA in the UK is showing that reform can move faster when companies, colleges and seafarers are brought in together. The bigger lesson for managers, though, is that they do not have to wait. They can test behaviour as well as checking certificates. They can involve crews before buying new bridge systems. And they can stop turning away experienced 55-year-old captains who still understand the ship without the screen.

Owners who rely on STCW alone are accepting ten years of exposure that is theirs to manage.

Adding more connectivity options can create more choice. It can also create another layer for vessel and shoreside teams to manage.

AST Networks combines connectivity with managed network services and technical support, bringing multiple technologies together as part of a wider solution.

For maritime operators, that means the conversation does not have to stop at selecting a satellite service. AST Networks can support the connectivity environment around it, including hybrid networking, cybersecurity and remote vessel monitoring.

The aim is straightforward: make increasingly capable vessel connectivity easier to operate and manage.

» Learn more about AST Networks’ managed connectivity approach «

EPS takes early delivery of three LNG dual-fuel Newcastlemaxes with 20% carbon cut expected
The new ships carry open-loop scrubbers alongside their LNG engines, so the 20% carbon saving only applies when they actually burn gas.

AskChief opens its maritime AI to all owners after passing 100 vessels in under a year
The platform answers technical and compliance queries from each company’s own manuals and vessel history, and it shows its sources.

StormGeo and CCS open direct emissions data link for 700-vessel China fleet
Owners using s-Insight can now send validated emissions data straight to CCS through an API the class society tested on site, without exporting files by hand.

Singapore and Norway put S$2.7 million and NOK 20 million into a joint call for greener shipping research
Every funded project must pair research institutions and industry partners from both countries, and applications close on 20 January 2027.

World Fuel says biofuel buyers are confusing sustainability with quality
A sustainability certificate proves where a biofuel came from but says nothing about how it will behave in the engine room.

» Register your Interest «

Transitioning to Digital Seafarer Certificates, Baltic Sea Surveillance, and GPS Spoofing

Digitalising seafarer credentials sounds straightforward, but replacing paper certificates with PDFs only solves part of the problem. In this episode of UnDocked, Nick Chubb and Raal Harris discuss new Thetius research into making crew qualifications more secure, interoperable and seafarer-friendly. They also cover Baltic maritime surveillance, GPS spoofing, a potential solution to shipping's 'sail fast and wait' problem and robotic hull cleaning.

Seafarers in Manila said onboard internet has transformed crew welfare, but free Wi-Fi often fails to reach the cabin and shore teams reach into rest hours, so the work is far from done once the terminal is installed.