Actual Legal Background Concerning Curricular Sea Services in Spain

Abstract

More than thirty years ago Shipowners of Spanish flagged vessels were forced to sign on cadets coming from High Technical Schools of Nautical Sciences and Marine Engineering always provided that there was not another cadet on board. It appears that, in those days, the Spanish Government believed this was necessary to protect national merchant fleet. Nowadays, unfortunately, the Spanish fleet has been reduced considerably and, in addition to this, actual internal legal regulations are more restrictive than before with regard to the possibility for the students to carry out sea services. Because of that, Schools are currently finding a lot of problems to get a ship where the student may practice the knowledge that has been acquired at University. The aim of this paper is to study the legal background regarding the curricular sea services based on three stages: an historical review, current situation and the future. Moreover, some possible solutions to this problem are discussed at the end of the research.