The Exploration of High-quality, Internationalized and Sustainable Maritime Education and Training

The relevant analysis from BIMCO, IMO and other authorities in recent years have indicated increasing difficulties in recruiting high quality seafarers, especially senior officers. In fact, the number may be less than the statistics already obtained, due to the rapid development of maritime technologies, faster vessels, higher safety standards and pollution prevention requirements, and tighter supervision network based on Port State Control and Flag State Control mechanisms. Some evidence show that the quantity of qualified seafarers may further decrease. So it is really a contemporary urgent task for maritime universities and institutes to educate and train seafarers with integrative knowledge and master the mature know-how and skills to fulfil the industrial requirements. The paper introduces practices at Shanghai Maritime University on her way toward higher quality, internationalized and sustainable MET on the basis of the importance of seafarers and their contributions, the trends of the maritime industry, and the features of Chinese MET.