Up to 800,000 seafarers could be unable to legally operate the ships they currently crew without further training by the mid-2030s. The vessels are already being ordered – methanol dual-fuel carriers, ammonia-powered bulk carriers, hydrogen demonstration ships – and so are the regulations. The Maritime Just Transition Task Force (MJTTF) was created for exactly this reason – to ensure that transition does not happen to seafarers, but with them. Most seafarers do not know about it. Established at COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021, the MJTTF is the first global sectoral body focused entirely on protecting workers in the transition of shipping to zero-carbon fuels . It has published training frameworks, shaped STCW revision and secured legal protections for workers within IMO’s own revised climate strategy. Here are eight things seafarers need to understand about its work – and what that work requires of them. 1. What Is the Maritime Just Transition Task Force? The Maritime Just Transition Task Force is a multi-institutional body created at COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021. It was launched jointly by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and the United Nations Global Compact, with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) as partners. It is the world’s first global sectoral task force of this kind that is dedicated to a “just transition.” The ILO defines that term as “greening the economy in a way that is as fair and inclusive as possible to everyone concerned, creating decent work opportunities and leaving no one behind.” When applied to maritime, that means shipping’s decarbonisation cannot be seen as a purely engineering problem to be solved in the shipyard — it is also a workforce problem that must be solved before crew are put aboard those ships. 2. Why 800,000 Seafarers Are At The Heart Of This Transition In 2022 the MJTTF commissioned DNV to mod