Barriers to progress or windows of opportunity? A study in career path mapping in the maritime industries

The objective of the study was to provide, through a series of interviews with key personnel from a range of European Member States, an overview of the following:

Possible and actual career paths of seafarers;

Seafarer manpower requirements at sea and in relevant shore-based maritime sectors;

Barriers to the mobility of qualified seafarers between the sectors.

From this information a set of career maps were constructed for each Member State. This paper describes the methodology adopted and the findings. A number of similarities between maritime industries in the various Member States and a number of differences were found and these are discussed. Similarities included the personal qualities required by seafarers, their reasons for career moves, and the processes involved. There are also a number of common factors that are markedly different in each Member State, including the culture of the individual country. The paper concludes with a comparison between these factors and known dimensions of culture.