ABSTRACT: Exploitation of new technology has a strong impact on the role of the human maritime professional. New knowledge and new skills are needed. This is a challenge for institutions responsible for education of the maritime professionals. The education system is challenged by the following facts: Firstly, the typical lifetime of a commercial ship is several times longer than the typical age of a generation of a computer-based system or application. Secondly, the graduating student should possess necessary skills and knowledge to work efficiently and safely on board a 30-year-old ship and a brand-new ship with the latest technology. Thirdly, the STCW convention by IMO must be strictly applied in education of seafarers, which makes it difficult for the education institutions to include necessary contents on the latest technology in the curriculum. In this paper, the challenge of education of maritime professionals is discussed and the possibilities of modern simulator technology in testing and demonstration of intelligent shipping solutions and in training of seafarers are presented. Satakunta University of Applied Sciences has established a simulator-based environment, called Intelligent Shipping Technology Test Laboratory (ISTLAB), for development of new applications and for training of maritime professionals to cope with emerging intelligent shipping solutions such as remote monitoring and control of ships and remote pilotage. The structure and functions of the ISTLAB system, remote pilotage as its primary use case, and possible ways of using it in research and education are presented. International co-operation in research of remote pilotage is discussed in the end of the paper.

KEYWORDS: Maritime Education and Training (MET), Education System, STCW Convention, MET System in Finland, Intelligent Shipping Technology Test Laboratory (ISTLAB), Simulator System, Intelligent Shipping Technology, Training of Future Maritime Professionals

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