The conversation around maritime labor took center stage on day two of the International WorkBoat Show during the panel-style discussion, “Crew Change: Evolving the Maritime Workforce from Offshore to Shoreside.”
The session focused on the shifting realities of recruitment, retention, and the transition from offshore to shoreside careers.
Moderator Christina Liviakis, director of business development at American Ship Repair, joined fellow industry stakeholders to examine how organizations are navigating generational divides, preparing mariners for an evolving industry, and modernizing the systems supporting today’s maritime workforce.
Caitlin Hardy, founder and managing director of Ness Sea Consulting, pointed to a noticeable evolution in who is entering the field, noting that many newcomers now arrive with engineering or software backgrounds rather than maritime roots. Seeing the potential in this shift, she commented, “It’s a huge opportunity to diversify the voices that we bring into our industry, but it’s also really important to pair the historical knowledge that we have as a group with these new incumbents coming in to further progress for everyone.”
The discussion turned toward the accelerating wave of operational technology, with Liviakis asking TowWorks sales manager Laura Lewis what opportunities she’s seeing in today’s “technological revolution.” Lewis, who has spent two decades helping operators modernize fleet management, touched on how automation is smoothing career transitions and enabling easier segways for jobseekers coming from other sectors.
“Technology avails companies the ability to provide better quality of life to mariners,” she said. The companies she advises are increasingly tailoring their schedules to match mariners’ preferences, an approach she called a major factor in retention. “Technology makes managing those different, disparate schedules across the workforce a lot easier.”
She acknowledged the challenges as well, stating, “The silver tsunami makes implementing technology difficult when you have an aging workforce. The fast-paced nature of our industry makes in-depth training and consumption of technology a little bit more difficult, but overall, I think the opportunities certainly outweigh the negatives.”
The panel then looked at how to engage younger generations, a critical component of sustaining the talent pipeline. Liz Schmidt, executive director of Women Offshore, emphasized the need for early education. “We really need to start, of course, in schools. Not only students – we also need to educate the educators about what opportunities there are.” Ensuring teachers understand maritime career paths, she argued, is essential to making the industry visible to the up-and-coming workforce.
Quality of life emerged as a thread throughout the session, with Liviakis asking Lewis – who also serves as a chaplain – how companies can support mariners not only while at sea, but throughout their careers. She explained that chaplain services remain underutilized, saying, “I’ve been a chaplain for about three years now, and I've responded to one incident. One call. It surprises me because I know there’s more going on out there.”
She stressed that utilizing support resources shouldn’t be viewed as a sign of weakness. “Bringing us in doesn’t mean there’s a problem; it means that people matter more to you than the perception in the market. I believe mariners need help, and we’re here to provide that.”
The conversation also touched on the sea-to-shore transition, an inflection point that many mariners are unprepared for. Schmidt highlighted a recurring theme, saying, “Talking to a variety of crew who are looking for career growth or other opportunities in that transition, one of the commonalities I’ve seen is they haven’t educated themselves throughout their career about what that could look like.”
While much effort goes into helping young people break into offshore roles, she said, “Once they’re there, we don’t really do a whole lot to teach them how to advance in their career and what that looks like.”
During audience Q&A, the panel fielded a question about breaking down operational silos and the role government should play in advancing workforce development. Livakis highlighted the importance of proactive engagement. “One of the most important things is we need to show up and educate them.”
She continued, saying bluntly, “There are many organizations that allow us access to legislators and politicians, and we speak up as much as we can. We all need to show up and speak out because no one else is doing it for us.”
