Developing Maritime Digital Competencies

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a relentless drive by all industries to digitalize many everyday operations. The maritime industry is no exception, with the increase in digital tools that assist the everyday operations of the seafarer. What is more, much of this technology is now networked together, or to the Internet, which opens the seafarer up to a wave of new cyber risks. Maritime communication systems have often been demonstrated as insecure in the recent past. Thus, without appropriate training, seafarers are ill-prepared to protect themselves, and the systems for which they are responsible, from the impacts of cyber incidents. This article argues that there is a clear link between seafarer training and maritime safety. As such, there is a need to develop standardized digital competencies for all seafarers. The creation of these competencies needs to be considerate of company-specific and operation-specific risk management practices. This article presents one possible solution for the development of maritime digital competencies utilizing the well-established NIST Cybersecurity Framework.