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<p>Our seafarers are highly skilled professionals entering STEM related careers and
the Department is keen to see more young people entering the industry and taking advantage
of the many and wide ranging career opportunities that the maritime sector offers.</p><p>
</p><p>Government incentivises careers at sea by supporting approximately 30% - 50%
of the cost of Seafarer Training through the Support for Maritime Training (SMarT)
scheme. To create further training opportunities, SMarT Plus was announced earlier
this year which will see SMarT funding doubled to £30m over the next seven years and
training places increased to 1200 per year. In addition to SMarT, a continual supply
of training opportunities are made available through the UK’s tonnage tax regime which
requires a tonnage tax company to recruit and train one trainee officer (or ratings
equivalent) for every 15 officer posts in its fleet.</p><p> </p><p>As apprenticeships
policy is devolved, the Department continues to support the sector in developing maritime
apprenticeships in England, opening opportunities for careers at sea to all. There
are currently 3 seafaring apprenticeships available for use with the levy. The Department
also continues to support a number of initiatives promoting careers at sea to young
people, including Seafarers Awareness Week, Maritime UK’s Maritime Careers Forum,
the Women in Maritime Taskforce and the Year of Engineering.</p>
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