News

Attracting maritime talent through real experience

Written by NES | 23 Mar 2025
To inspire the next generation of maritime professionals, NES joined NTNU students on a hands-on journey along Norway’s coast—connecting education with industry.

The journey started aboard Havila Voyages, sailing from Trondheim to Molde, where students were given an exclusive tour of the onboard systems and got to see our integrated solutions in action.

As the group continued south, the students met with DNV, HAV Design and MMC First Process onboard Havila Castor, before going ashore to visit Brunvoll and Ulstein along the coast.

In Fosnavåg, the Sea the Future conference provided an engaging setting where students could interact directly with industry leaders, business associations, and maritime clusters. Panel discussions, presentations, and personal stories offered insight into the many career paths and innovative projects shaping the maritime industry’s sustainable future.

NTNU student Elise Voje Aabel summed it up nicely:

“I’ve learned a lot of new things about this region. I knew it was beautiful here, but I’ve discovered how many different companies there actually are. There are so many possibilities, and everyone is doing incredibly exciting things. I’ve realised I have even more options than I thought.”

This is why initiatives like this matter. Our industry must become more visible and clearly highlight the opportunities along the coast. We cannot assume that land-based talent knows what’s possible at sea.

Collaboration—also between competitors—is essential to attracting the best minds to maritime technology. As Idar Ulstein put it: “We cooperate when we can and compete when we must.”

Let’s continue raising the bar. Together.