After 4.5 years of exceptional contributions and hard work from all partners, the closing conference of the SkillSea project concluded yesterday in Brussels. The EU-funded SkillSea project brought together the maritime industry, social partners, trade unions, research organisations, maritime academies and universities, education and training providers, and public authorities.
During the final conference of the project, the M.E.T.’s network (MET-NET) was launched, and an M.O.U. was signed. Together with the European Maritime Skills Forum (E-MSF), The MET-NET is a key part of the legacy of the SkillSea project.
The ETF MT Section E.U. Committee chair, Sascha Meijer, underlined the need to train and retrain seafarers with all the needed right skills for the maritime jobs of the future, but with no cost to them. She emphasized that these jobs need to be decent, attractive, and highly skilled so that the seafarers are proud to carry them out. According to her, reskilling will also enable them to work in a safe, healthy, workable, and challenging environment until an older age or until retirement.
The EU-funded SkillSea project has led to a new maritime skills strategy. This strategy guides stakeholders in adapting maritime education and training programs to current trends. The toolbox and the educational packages of the project are available here.
