From Oil Spills to Ocean Literacy Maritime Education and the Legacy of Environmental Accident

Abstract

This paper analyzes how major maritime ecological disasters—Exxon Valdez (1989), Erika (1999), and Prestige (2002)—acted as catalysts for the transformation of nautical education, prompting regulatory and curricular changes geared toward sustainability and environmental awareness.

A mixed-methods approach (historical document and curriculum analysis) is employed to assess the integration of environmental content into maritime education programs.

The central concept is Ocean Literacy, defined as “an understanding of the ocean’s influence on you—and your influence on the ocean” (Cava et al., 2005). It is grounded in seven essential principles and 45 concepts articulated by NOAA (2013, 2024) and supported by UNESCO (Schoedinger, 2020). Its goal is to foster critical thinking, environmental ethics, and active participation in ocean policy.

The hypothesis suggests that sustainability in maritime education in Spain emerged reactively—spurred by environmental crises—rather than from pre-existing initiatives. The analysis is organized into three lines: 1) landmark accidents as drivers of reform; 2) a review of nautical degree curricula before and after 2002/2003; and 3) international regulatory developments, including MARPOL, STCW, and European strategies such as Blue Growth.

The article proposes going beyond mere regulatory compliance toward experiential and integrated education, where Ocean Literacy serves as a cross-cutting axis, applied through incident simulations, service-learning projects, and international faculty collaboration.