Millennial Seafarers as Today and Tomorrow’s Generation of Marine Officers: Implications and Future Directions

The maritime industry is lined with people who belong to the millennials. This generation currently supplies the constant demand for a stable workforce who can keep pace with the expanding needs and expectations of the industry. Since human resource is as crucial as the modern equipment and technology that keep the vessels running, it is also imperative that equal importance must be given to initiatives that are designed to develop the full potential of our present and future generations of seafarers. This study provides research-based data on the general description of their traits and characteristics as derived from four different perspectives — their self-perception and the perceptions of their senior officers, their crewmates, and their shipping companies who have worked side by side with them. This paper also rationalizes how their dominant characteristics can be positively maximized and utilized in the workplace and what initiatives can be done to help them succeed as effective and efficient marine officers.