David Nichol, Senior Advisor at The Swedish Club, challenged the maritime industry to rethink seamanship at the 2025 SAFETY4SEA Athens Forum. His message was clear: seamanship isn’t just about ropes and rigging—it’s the lifeblood of safe, efficient shipping, and it’s evolving faster than ever.
Nichol cut to the heart of the matter: seamanship isn’t just about technical skills. It’s a blend of experience, judgment, and intuition that develops over time at sea. “Seamanship is not merely a set of standardized procedures or regulatory requirements learned in a classroom,” he said. “It’s a professional aptitude that combines both technical competence and a less tangible sense of practical understanding that develops only through time and experience at sea.” This is the kind of expertise that can’t be programmed into a computer—yet.
The regulatory framework around seamanship is surprisingly sparse. While the International Safety Management (ISM) Code doesn’t explicitly mention it, the UNCLOS and STCW conventions touch on its importance. The International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGs) go further, with Rule 8 explicitly stating that collision avoidance must be carried out “with due regard to the observance of good seamanship.” But Nichol argued that regulations alone can’t capture the essence of seamanship—it’s the intangible, experiential knowledge that sets great seafarers apart.
The real disruption lies in automation. Autonomous vessels aren’t just a technological shift—they’re a cultural one. Nichol warned that the rise of AI and automation could erode the very foundation of seamanship. “The transition to autonomous systems may provide opportunities for current seafarers to move into shore-based roles, where practical seagoing experience would remain valuable,” he said. “Nevertheless, as vessels requiring traditional crews decline, the preservation of seamanship skills becomes increasingly uncertain.”
This isn’t just about job security—it’s about preserving a core of human expertise that has underpinned maritime trade for millennia. Nichol emphasized that the industry must integrate advanced technology without losing sight of the human element. “The challenge for the maritime industry lies in integrating advanced technology without severing the connection to hard-won human skills, experience, and judgment that have long defined seafaring,” he said.
The maritime industry stands at a crossroads. Automation promises efficiency, but at what cost? Nichol’s message was a call to action: preserve seamanship, not just as a skill, but as a cultural legacy. The future of shipping isn’t just about smarter ships—it’s about smarter seafarers.