Designing a Centralized Training Academy for Maritime Security

The maritime industry is an economic activity that enables global trade and travel. However, the transportation network is threatened by security risks that seek to exploit vulnerabilities and cause damage to ships, interrupt the global supply chain network, and endanger the lives of crewmembers and passengers. While policies exist to aid in the prevention of attacks, these policies, alone, are insufficient to sustain global maritime domain security and awareness. Policies must be effectively enforced and complemented with highly trained crewmembers who have the knowledge and skills to efficiently prevent, detect, and respond to threats. This study analyzed maritime security policies and model courses to benchmark training requirements and create a topic development matrix for a centralized training academy for maritime security personnel. A course overview, syllabus, and learning objectives were created to reflect required and recommended security training components, with a focus on the cruise industry. This study concluded that a centralized training academy has significant benefits not only directly to the company where it is applied, but also to the maritime industry as a whole. Additional research would conduct evaluations of the academy and customize this curriculum for other companies engaged in ocean trade to enhance global maritime security and awareness