Ambition Up, Readiness Lagging: Metavasea Survey Finds Eastern Mediterranean Shipping Caught Between Strategy And Capacity
METAVASEA survey shows shipping companies raising their climate ambition faster than the sector is building the capacity to deliver it, while seafarers continue to name crew fatigue as their leading safety concern and the public still overestimates the industry’s carbon footprint. The Wave 2 findings of the METAVASEA survey, released today by HELMEPA, show rising ...
The METAVASEA survey reveals that shipping companies are raising their climate ambition faster than the sector is building the capacity to deliver it. This was observed in the Wave 2 findings, released by HELMEPA on World Maritime Day 2026. While awareness and strategic alignment on maritime decarbonisation have increased across the Eastern Mediterranean, gaps in implementation capacity, workforce readiness, and public understanding persist.
Seafarers continue to name crew fatigue as their leading safety concern, with 69% citing it in Wave 2, unchanged from Wave 1. However, familiarity with IMO climate frameworks, such as ETS and FuelEU, has risen significantly, with 56% reporting familiarity with the IMO GHG Strategy. Despite increased training participation, the majority still report receiving no decarbonization-related training, with satisfaction rising from 56% to 65%.
Companies and seafarers align on core skills like leadership and teamwork, but diverge on resilience and adaptability, with the latter two seeing significant declines among seafarers. Biofuels remain the leading transitional fuel, used by 59% of companies, while digitalization is operationally embedded but not yet strategic, with only 17% of companies prioritizing digital and cybersecurity skills as core seafarer competencies.
Public concern about maritime decarbonization remains high, with 78% rating it as high or very high, and 41% unaware of any GHG reduction initiatives in maritime transport.
Written by urgent.news from Hellenic Shipping News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.