Developing multi-disciplinary blended learning courses for maritime education with cross-European collaboration

Continuous training is considered as a key issue for the evolution of human being at professional and personal level, enhancing productivity, employability and social stability in a global competitive world. Furthermore, the application of new technologies, the imposition of new regulations in maritime industry and the growing challenges of port, shipping and logistics increase the demand for additional educational schemes. Concerning the market needs, TrainMoS II and On The MoS Way Network (OTMW-N) European projects aimed to the development of students and professionals skills and laid the foundations for a cross-European maritime educational system. TrainMoS II was the evolution of the TrainMoS project, improving the existing tools and providing a whole new range of technical and operational topics, including alternative fuels and technologies, logistic issues, damage control and evacuation/crisis management operations. TrainMoS II focused on the provision of flexible vocational education to undergraduates and professionals who belong to different sectors in the multimodal transport chain. At the same time, OTMW-N covered the training needs in the use of alternative fuels in marine industry, such as LNG. OTMW-N was also offering professional training and vocational education through a series of activities in which students obtained the opportunity to enhance their academic background and to implement it in simulation programmes. Both projects focused on the establishment of a training framework that will assist the collaboration between academia and industry. In the present study, the outcomes of the aforementioned projects are presented and discussed for their contribution to the maritime industry.