Beyond the Deadline: Reflections on Bullying, Harassment & Behaviour Change at Sea

As the new STCW requirements on bullying and harassment come into force on the 1^st of January 2026, the maritime industry has reached an important milestone. For the first time, these issues are formally embedded within mandatory Basic Safety Training, sending a clear signal that they are being taken seriously at a regulatory level.

Having recently spoken on a panel titled, ‘My Harassment-Free Ship: What Does It Take?’ at Crew Connect, this feels like a timely moment for reflection. We explored how culture, leadership and learning can genuinely move the needle towards psychological safety on board. The panel agreed we should not just focus on what has changed, but on what still needs to change if we truly want to influence behaviour at sea.

Training Is Necessary, But It Is Not Enough

One of the clearest points of agreement from the Crew Connect panel was that training alone does not change behaviour. As an industry, we invest heavily in learning. We deliver eLearning modules, classroom sessions, microlearning and refresher courses, often with the assumption that once a course is completed, the issue has been addressed.

In reality, behavioural skills develop over time. They require reinforcement, reflection and practical application in real situations. This is particularly true for bullying and harassment, where awareness and judgment matter as much as knowledge. Research consistently shows that without reinforcement, a significant proportion of learning is forgotten within months. When training is delivered years before it is needed, the gap between learning and lived experience becomes unavoidable.

This is not a failure of training design, but a reminder that behaviour change is a process, not an event.

The New STCW Requirement: A Positive Step, Not a Finish Line

The inclusion of bullying and harassment within STCW Basic Safety Training is undoubtedly a positive step. It creates consistency, raises baseline awareness and reinforces the seriousness of the issue across the global workforce.

However, it also poses a difficult question. Can a topic addressed within a single mandatory course, refreshed only every five years, realistically drive lasting behavioural change? From my perspective, regulation can open the door, but it cannot carry the industry through on its own. Deeply ingrained habits, cultural norms and personal behaviours are unlikely to shift through one-off interventions, however well-intentioned they may be.

If we treat compliance as the destination rather than the starting point, we risk mistaking progress for impact.

Do We Even Agree on What Harassment Means

Another important insight from the panel was how differently harassment is understood in practice. Too often, the term is narrowly associated with sexual harassment alone. In reality, it also includes verbal abuse, intimidation, aggressive language, excessive working hours and behaviours that may once have been culturally normalised.

On multinational vessels, this complexity increases. What feels acceptable to one individual may feel deeply uncomfortable or threatening to another. In many cases, behaviour persists not because of malice, but because individuals do not recognise the impact of their actions. Without a shared understanding of what constitutes harassment, policy and training can only go so far.

Awareness must be continuous and contextual, not assumed.

Policies Don’t Change Behaviour, People Do

Most organisations now have policies and procedures addressing bullying and harassment. That progress matters. But policies alone do not challenge beliefs, and procedures do not reshape habits.

Real change happens when expectations are reinforced through leadership behaviour, regular conversations and practical examples that resonate with everyday life on board. This was a consistent message throughout the Crew Connect discussion, echoed by panellists from across the industry. Culture is shaped not by what is written, but by what is tolerated, challenged and modelled in practice.

Technology Can Help, If We Use It Well

The panel also explored how technology can support behavioural change when used thoughtfully. Anonymous digital reporting tools, for example, are often far more effective than traditional phone-based systems. Where power dynamics exist, particularly involving senior officers, anonymity can remove fear and increase trust.

We see the same behaviour in other settings. At conferences, people are far more likely to engage through anonymous digital tools than by raising a hand in a crowded room. The technology to support reporting, early intervention and continuous learning already exists. The challenge is not access, but organisational willingness to use these tools transparently and to act meaningfully on what they reveal.

Moving Beyond One-and-Done Learning

If training is to translate into behaviour, it must be continuous, relevant and accessible when it matters most. Short, regular refreshers, scenario-based learning and just-in-time prompts are often far more effective than infrequent, lengthy courses.

Bullying and harassment awareness is not something that can be addressed once and then set aside. It needs to be revisited regularly to remain visible, credible and meaningful, particularly in high-pressure environments where behaviour is shaped by stress, fatigue and hierarchy.

Culture Change Requires Shared Responsibility

Perhaps the most important takeaway from Crew Connect was that responsibility for change is shared. Seafarers, senior officers and shore-based leadership all have a role to play. Transparency only works when organisations are genuinely prepared to listen, respond and act when concerns are raised.

Without that commitment, even the strongest training programmes and most sophisticated technology risk becoming surface-level solutions. Psychological safety is built through trust, consistency and visible accountability, not through compliance alone.

Looking Ahead

The STCW deadline represents progress and deserves recognition. But it should be viewed as a starting point rather than a conclusion. Bullying and harassment will not be addressed through a single course, a single policy or a single regulation.

Sustained change requires continuous effort, clear expectations and a shared commitment from ship to shore to move beyond compliance towards culture. That was the strongest message to emerge from the Crew Connect panel, and one the maritime industry would do well to carry forward.

Capt. (Dr) Sartaj Gill, Sr. Vice President on the ‘My Harassment-Free Ship: What Does It Take?’ panel at Crew Connect