The maritime industry is expected to deliver an increasingly competitive service to its customers. The requirement is to deliver a higher-quality service, at reduced cost, and on a progressive, ongoing basis. In order to meet this unrelenting challenge, and perhaps more importantly, to remain competitive, all those in the industry must be able to both embrace the culture of change, and through an informed process of continual improvement, exploit the opportunities that it offers.Two day international conference, to be held on 10-11 December in Warsash Maritime Centre, Southampton (UK) will address the challenges, the needs and the solutions.

This could not be more relevant to the seagoing personnel, as it is clear that an increasing number of seafarers will need to be provided with enhanced professional skills in order to deliver the increased performance of full ISM Code compliance. Clearly, both the range and sophistication of the expertise they will require in the future are expanding, and this presents its own challenges to those responsible for ensuring that those officers serving afloat are properly prepared.

All those staff involved in, or having responsibility for, maritime training, including strategists, policy makers, and those delivering and controlling the quality of training, need to be fully aware of the emerging issues to be addressed, and the most effective and economic solutions available. The aim of this conference is to explore these training challenges.