ABSTRACT
A non-traditional source of future seafarers and technical support staff likely to be attracted to Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) operations include people with engineering degrees without maritime credentials who take graduate-level academic instruction, resulting in a Master’s degree designed specifically to meet the requirements for MASS. Seafarers undergo rigorous academic and practical training to learn and gain experience in their jobs. Transformation and expansion of education and learning from books, procedural simulators and feet on the deck of operational vessels to include audio, visual and augmented reality formats will be essential to keep up with the rate of change occurring in the maritime industry. One approach examining curriculum changes needed to be made to educate and train an autonomous ship operator to work in an operations center was examined by the California State University Maritime Academy in Vallejo, California and presented at a forum on MASS.
