Maritime symposium addresses sector challenges

City of Glasgow College welcomes key industry leaders and academics as it hosts its third international maritime symposium. The focus for the event is on the skills challenges currently facing the maritime sector.

As Scotland’s flagship college celebrates 50 years of delivering maritime and marine engineering education and training on the banks of the River Clyde, it will debate how college education can offer practical and innovative solutions.

Paul Little, Principal and Chief Executive at City of Glasgow College, said:

“Jobs within the maritime sector ensure 96% of UK trade. Ships Officers represent a key source of talent for these roles, but developing this talent pool is at risk from a number of factors, including demographics, skills development, recruitment and retention.

“Our Maritime 50 symposium brings together a range of industry-leading speakers to examine these factors, share their experiences and begin working on insightful solutions.”

Key speakers include David Coyne, Director for Skills Development Scotland, who kicks off proceedings, and said:

“The maritime sector is fundamental to the UK and Scottish economies. Our supply chain security and tens of thousands of jobs across the country rely on it. That’s why it is really refreshing to see leaders from industry, academia and government working proactively together to understand and manage the changes that are inevitable as we move into the 2020’s.”

The Maritime 50 Symposium takes place over Thursday 3 and Friday 4 October at the college’s Riverside campus which replaced its legacy institution, the Glasgow College of Nautical Studies, formally opened on 4 October 1969 by Lord Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl of Burma.