Maritime Just Transition Task Force: 8 Things Every Seafarer Needs to Know

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.