The Role of Management in Developing Seafarers’ Digital Skills for Artificial Intelligence-Driven Maritime Transformation: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI)-driven maritime transformation, including Maritime 4.0, smart shipping, and Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships, has reconfigured ship-shore operations and intensified the need for data-driven, automated, and digitally mediated work. As a consequence, competency requirements for seafarers have expanded beyond conventional seamanship toward digital literacy, data and AI literacy, cybersecurity awareness, and the capability to operate within human-automation environments. However, the literature addressing managerial responsibility for building these competencies remains fragmented across technology, safety, education, and workforce studies. This systematic literature review aims to synthesize the literature to identify: (1) the roles of management in developing seafarers’ digital competencies, (2) the digital and work competencies most emphasized in the literature, (3) the major challenges and enabling factors encountered by management in competency development, and (4) research gaps and future directions related to management-led competency development. A Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses-guided systematic literature review was conducted using Scopus and Google Scholar for publications from 2020 to 2025. A total of 2,675 records were retrieved from Scopus and Google Scholar via Publish or Perish. After duplicate removal, title-and-abstract screening, and full-text eligibility assessment, 25 peer-reviewed studies were included in the final synthesis. A structured data-extraction matrix was used to capture study context, competency domains, managerial roles, challenges and enabling factors, and future research directions. The included studies were analyzed using thematic synthesis aligned with four research questions. The review shows that management roles cluster into four main domains: governance of curriculum and competency standards, reskilling and upskilling architecture, organizational change leadership, and operational readiness through safety and cybersecurity governance. The most emphasized competency domains include digital literacy, data and AI literacy, programming-related knowledge, cybersecurity competence, remote operations capability, and cognitive-social skills such as situational awareness, communication, leadership, and decision-making. The main barriers include regulatory and curriculum lag, limited digital infrastructure and onboard connectivity, instructor competency gaps, funding constraints, and uneven empirical evidence on training effectiveness. The review highlights the need for an integrated, management-led competency development framework linking shipping companies, maritime education and training institutions, and regulators in order to support safe, adaptive, and sustainable maritime transformation.