RMT warns of threat to seafarer apprenticeships

RMT warns of threat to seafarer apprenticeships
RMT Press Office 25 August 2026 https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/rmt-warns-of-threat-to-seafarer-apprenticesh...

SEAFARERS union RMT has raised the alarm at government consultations over the permanent removal of apprenticeship schemes for seafarer Ratings in the maritime industry.

The government’s new skills body, Skills England has announced that it was ‘retiring’ apprenticeship standards including the Deck Rating Apprenticeship, the only scheme that employers have consistently used to train UK Ratings for employment in the shipping industry.

The Deck Rating apprenticeship was designed by the union in 2015, in collaboration with government, maritime colleges and employers, including Stena Line and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Several maritime employers use this apprenticeship to maintain a supply of new Ratings to the industry. The union estimates that over 600 UK resident Deck Ratings have been trained using this apprenticeship.

RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said that it would be dangerously short-sighted to cut Ratings apprenticeships with no alternative provision.

“We are raising this disturbing and dangerous development with ministers, some of whom clearly don’t understand the importance of the maritime supply chain to our economy and to our national security.

“Cutting the Deck Rating Apprenticeship would reward the likes of P&O Ferries, Irish Ferries and operators in the offshore wind supply chain who crew their vessels with exploited international crew, undercutting progressive employers who train and employ local seafarers.

“Trade unions and employers support this apprenticeship – we should be improving standards and increasing the uptake of maritime apprenticeships not cutting them.

“That is why we need comprehensive maritime apprenticeships to benefit national security and coastal communities that are crying out for decent jobs. Seafarer apprenticeships should be the bedrock of our island economy and national security, not an optional extra,” he said.