Seaways Focus - January 2026

Building on the positive

Welcome to 2026 and the great opportunities that lie ahead for us all. Opportunities and challenges that will help us improve as an industry; an opportunity to provide a better, safer and more welcoming industry.

Grasping these opportunities and making a difference is a key role of The Nautical Institute, and one that requires leadership at many levels. The expertise of our colleagues at HQ and the depth of knowledge and experience we have across the membership allows us to demonstrate technical leadership across many disciplines. Thank you to all of our members and stakeholders who volunteer their time to help us share their technical insights and experience.

One great example of how this will take shape this year and beyond is through our Seafarer Technology Empowerment Engagement Resilience (STEER) project. The STEER programme will help us understand the combined impact of technology and working practices on seafarers’ day-to-day work, safety, skills and welfare.

We are grateful for the support of the Lloyds Register Foundation that allows us to explore these key issues and engage widely across the industry.

Leadership

Leadership is so important at a personal level too, and we have much to do. As leaders we set the tone for our conversations and interactions. We establish the nature of dialogue and have a key responsibility to listen; to actively listen and respond to matters of concern. And we should do so in a positive and supportive way every time.

I sense many find this difficult and, particularly when talking about life at sea, careers at sea and changes in the industry, there is a temptation to be overly critical and negative in our remarks.

Of course, there are things that we as an industry can do better, but let us not lose sight of the fact we have an outstanding generation of technically savvy and intelligent young men and women entering the industry who will shape its future. Inevitably, things are different from the way they were in previous generations; every industry is different from earlier years. Our agile, responsive and motivated mariners deserve our active support and our help in promoting a positive image of the sector where they have chosen to build their careers. Few people want to be part of a sector that is constantly putting itself down. Let’s shine the light on good news as well as being active leaders in addressing negative and poor behaviours.

What’s ahead

We have an exciting year ahead for everyone associated with The Nautical Institute.

In the first three months of this year we will improve accessibility to information and support for our members, Dynamic Positioning Operators, and others by expanding our physical footprint to offer services based in Asia. We will celebrate our closer engagement and support throughout the region and look forward to working with regulators, training providers, ship managers and operators across the region. Exciting times!

We will continue our work with other organisations showing that collaboration is better than working alone.

We will hold exciting and engaging events in Canada and beyond and look forward to connecting with our world-wide community as often as we can.

Thank you for making The Nautical Institute what it is today, the leading professional association for mariners, supporting best practice and leading the discussion in many areas of maritime operations.