Seaways Focus - November 2026
Sharing insights, giving back
by John Lloyd FNI Chief Executive, The Nautical Institute
October was a special month for The Nautical Institute and its global engagement with key communities in the USA, South America, Europe, Asia and beyond.
While technology always has a role to play in effective communications, meeting people face to face and being able to share informal conversations as well as structured ones adds a level of enrichment and helps build deeper understanding.
In this context I was pleased to support the US Branches Biennial Event hosted at the State University of New York, Maritime College. The theme of ‘Building the Mariner of Tomorrow’ brought together expert speakers in a superb venue. Together, their vast experience in the selection, recruitment, retention and professional development of seafarers highlighted the importance of recognising the problems and opportunities that we face. This was a unique chance to understand the expectations of seafarers around these issues and share our discussions with government regulators, college instructors and course participants.
Recognising the importance of maritime, the key role of seafarers and tailoring their training for today and for tomorrow are key to a successful, sustainable industry and I am grateful for the whole organising team for bringing together the right people for such an occasion.
These discussions remind us of the importance of the STCW review currently underway at the International Maritime Organisation. Your interests are represented very actively in all the key sessions at the IMO and I hope you are following the developments closely. Let us know your views and thoughts on the reviews and what you think priorities for the future should be.
The STCW review provided the ideal backdrop for discussions at Crew Connect in Manila, where I was honoured to moderate a panel discussing ‘Technostress, cognitive load and the simulator model: Training seafarers for ships that don’t exist yet.’ The panel included experts from across the sector with a genuine interest in ensuring we have the right regulations, the right training and assessment to help us ensure our mariners have the required competence for tomorrow. A genuine challenge and one that will require us to attract the best talent to the industry.
This is also a topic which is very much at the heart of the STEER project, where we ask not only how we can train our seafarers for ships that don’t exist yet, but also how we make sure those ships suit seafarers’ needs in the first place. Our report on the first stage of this project is now available to download and I encourage you all to take a look – see the link on p21 for more details.
The Manila event was very well attended and it was lovely to see so many of our members on panels, in the audience and participating in professional interactions at all levels. The Awards ceremony was a celebration of achievement that recognised innovation, commitment and genuine contributions to improving maritime safety. It was a real highlight to see our very own Gordon Foot FNI being awarded the ‘Seafarer of the Year’ award for his contribution to the welfare of seafarers and his widespread support for mariners. Two of the three shortlisted finalists were members of The Nautical Institute; our congratulations also to Capt. Emerson Reyes AFNI on his nomination!
In his latest initiative, Gordon is helping to raise funds to place cadets unable to find sea berths for their training for STCW qualifications. He is hoping to summit the 4,000 metre Mount Toubkal, the highest peak in North Africa, in December this year. He writes: “I am not asking you to join me – but if you can, please do consider donating the price of a coffee or three.” You can support his efforts here.
This initiative is supported by The Nautical Foundation and Educational Trust and we are delighted to recognise the support of the Armillary Club in this activity.