You are using an outdated browser For a better experience using this site, please upgrade to a modern web browser. Subscribe Get Daily Email Subscribe --> Contact Us Sign in Home News & Features Compliance Costs Bunker Prices Bunker Intelligence World News Latest Features World Americas EMEA Asia/Pacific Home News & Features World VIEWPOINT: Shipping is Buying Alternative-Fuel Ships Faster Than it is Building the Workforce to Run Them VIEWPOINT: Shipping is Buying Alternative-Fuel Ships Faster Than it is Building the Workforce to Run Them by Henrik Jensen, CEO of Danica Crewing Specialists Thursday October 1, 2026 Tweet Follow @shipandbunker Henrik Jensen, CEO of Danica Crewing Specialists. Image Credit: Danica Crewing Specialists Shipowners are committing serious capital to methanol-capable vessels, while ammonia is also attracting significant interest as a future fuel option. However, parts of the training market are not yet ready to prepare the engineers who will operate these new systems. We are seeing courses where simulators do not accurately reproduce onboard processes and instructors lack the technical depth to explain how systems behave outside the expected sequence. Shipping risks producing people with the right certificates but without the competence the machinery demands. Not Just a Number DNV -led work for the Maritime Just Transition Task Force has warned that as many as 800,000 seafarers may require additional training by the mid-2030s . “ Most industries will need to upgrade the skills of a substantial proportion of their people over the course of a decade as technology changes That sounds like a significant number, but it represents less than half of the global maritime workforce and should not, in itself, be overwhelming. Most industries will need to upgrade the skills of a substantial proportion of their people over the course of a decade as technology changes. The real issue is therefore not simply the number requiring training, but