Preparing MASS Operators for Port and Short-Sea Operations: Linking Industry Experience with Training Design

As Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) are gradually introduced, the ambition is to shift an increasing share of safety-critical monitoring and control in coastal, estuarial and port-adjacent waters towards shore-based Remote Operation Centres (ROCs). These waters are often well covered by communication and monitoring infrastructure, yet they are also among the most demanding parts of a voyage (Bokern et al., 2025; Tran et al., 2023). Studies on remote pilotage in restricted waters suggest that relocating expert navigation tasks ashore introduces distinct cognitive challenges, with direct implications for the design of shore-based operations and training programmes (Sharma et al., 2025). While competence profiles for shore-based control roles are evolving, a clear gap remains between broad competence catalogues and training proposals for remote operators on the one hand and the concrete requirements that emerge from industry practice on the other (Belabyad et al., 2025). This gap is particularly underexplored in port and short-sea settings, where remote operators have to integrate into existing traffic patterns and port authority procedures. Competence mapping studies typically group skills into clusters such as system understanding, combined communication and technical knowledge, and maritime competence, and stress the need for simulator-based training and structured transition pathways from shipboard roles into ROC work (Saha, 2023; EMSA, 2023). Recent pilot courses on MASS and remote operations in MET programmes point in the same direction, but so far remain largely conceptual and only loosely connected to real ROC practice in ports and estuaries (Campos et al., 2025). Against this background, the aim of this study is to link industry experience with training design by translating ROC-provider needs in port and short-sea operations into implementable priorities for MET. The study addresses three questions: Which tasks, responsibilities and teamwork patterns do ROC providers describe for operators in port and short-sea MASS operations? Which competence requirements do ROC providers emphasise for these operators, and how do these align with competence and learning outcome proposals in recent research? How can MET translate these requirements into curriculum and assessment design, including simulator-based learning and scenario development? The study uses an exploratory, practice-informed qualitative design. It combines existing empirical work on MASS-related training with new interview data from ROC providers and compares the resulting competence profile with recent research proposals. Three types of material are used. The first data source is Campos et al. (2025), who report on students’ views regarding the inclusion of MASS-related topics in MET curricula and describe the competence profile and learning outcomes of a pilot course on MASS and remote operations. Second, recent studies and reports on competence requirements for remote and shore-based operators are reviewed (Belabyad et al., 2025; Kuntasa et al., 2024: Saha, 2023; EMSA, 2023), and recurring competence elements are grouped into a small set of clusters such as system understanding, maritime competence, human factors and communication. Third, new qualitative data are collected through semi-structured interviews with ROC managers and senior operators involved in estuarial, inland and port-related traffic. Interviews are recorded with consent and summarised in detailed notes. Key statements on tasks, responsibilities and competences are coded and allocated to the same competence clusters as used in the literature review (Guest et al., 2014; Miles et al., 2014). Competence elements from the literature, the pilot course and the ROC interviews are thus coded into a common set of clusters, producing three parallel views of the desired competence profile: one based on recent research, one based on the pilot course design and one based on ROC-provider descriptions. From the ROC interviews, ROC providers describe a hybrid profile. Onboard experience is important, but they place particular weight on river and estuarial navigation, system and automation understanding, screen-based situational awareness, and clear, structured communication with bridge teams and shore services. Soft skills such as staying calm under pressure, coaching others and working well in a team are repeatedly mentioned. When these accounts are compared with recent research and the pilot course design, there is clear overlap on core clusters like system understanding, human factors and communication. At the same time, ROC providers put more emphasis on context-specific elements and handling several conventional vessels in confined waters. The study provides an industry-led view of the competence profile required for ROC operators in port and short-sea MASS operations and connects this directly to existing MET initiatives and research-based competence frameworks. Preliminary results suggest that current training and framework proposals capture several core clusters, but underestimate context-specific demands related to inland and port traffic organisation, multi-vessel management in confined waters and coaching-oriented communication with bridge teams. This points to the need for MET programmes to complement generic MASS modules with context-specific ROC training focused on port and short-sea operations. By mapping overlaps and gaps between research, training design and ROC practice, the paper develops a set of priorities for curriculum and assessment design.