Maritime

The Maritime industry is vital to the Australian economy as over 95% of exports are transported by sea, 10% of the world’s sea trade comes through Australian ports and Australia per capita has more cruise passengers than any other nation, making it the fourth-largest cruise market in the world.

Domestically the Maritime industry includes fishing and aquaculture, tourism, patrol and rescue operations. Australia’s coastline is over 60,000 kilometres in length and our search and rescue region covers more than 10% of the Earth’s surface.

What does this industry cover?

The Maritime industry has also been impacted by emerging technologies, some of which include robotics and automation, interconnected sensors and Big Data, remote propulsion and powering, autonomous and ‘smart’ vessels, deep ocean mining and marine biotechnologies.

One of the exciting advancements in technology is a new Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) which the Australian Maritime industry is the first in the world to test.

Job hunting preparation

The Maritime industry consists of water passenger transport such as, cruise ships, ferries and charter vessels, water freight such as container ships, crude oil, chemicals, vehicles and food and other water industry such as fishing boats, regulatory and patrol vessels.

Top technical skills required are: vessel operations, navigation/vessel handling, health/safety and search and rescue.

Top non-technical skills required are: communication, problem solving, teamwork, leadership and critical thinking.

Information for further research

Industry information is published by peak level associations, government and major employers. Accessing industry association sites, including member lists, is a good way of building up an understanding of an industry. Visiting employer websites and looking for careers or employment menus helps identify how employers recruit and the skills they are recruiting.