CAREER GUIDANCE IN BLUE ECONOMY

The coastal and maritime tourism sector has been identified as an area with special potential to foster a smart, sustainable and inclusive Europe. Employing more than 2.2 million people, the sector is by far the biggest employer in the blue economy (accounting for 54 % of jobs in the established blue economy sectors).
Tourism that is largely water-based rather than land-based (e.g. boating, yachting, cruising, nautical sports), but includes the operation of landside facilities, manufacturing of equipment, and services necessary for this segment of tourism. On the other hand, coastal tourism covers: ‘beach-based recreation and tourism (e.g. swimming, surfing, sun bathing), and non-beach related land-based tourism in the coastal area (all other tourism and recreational activities that take place in the coastal area for which the proximity of the sea is a condition), as well as the supplies and manufacturing industries associated to these activities.
Coastal and maritime tourism plays a significant role in the economic development of coastal regions. According to Eurostat, in 2017, coastal areas accounted for 45.7 % of the total nights spent in EU-28 tourist accommodation.

Most blue economy activities need ships and rely on ports and the shipping industry. The two main sectors of this industry, shipbuilding and maritime shipping, are interlinked and depend strongly on international markets.
In Europe, the sector has specialised in building high-value market vessels (mostly cruise ships) and technologically sophisticated ships. Smaller shipyards tend to specialise in fishing vessels or mega-yachts. The sector also produces marine equipment, marine machinery and navigation instruments, and provides products and services for ship maintenance, repair and conversion. Over 300 shipyards in EU account for about 6 % of the global market share in terms of tonnage and 19 % in terms of value on global order books, and up to 50 % for marine equipment. The sector employs about 315 000 people (8 % of jobs in the established blue economy).
The blue economy focuses on coastal, short sea and deep-sea shipping of both passengers and freight. Short sea shipping represents a third of intra-EU exchanges in tonne-kilometres and is crucial for quality of life on EU islands and in peripheral maritime regions. It employs about 232 000 people (6 % of jobs in the established blue economy). The sector also includes inland water transport and the rental and lease of water transport equipment.
The EU has about 1 200 maritime ports, handling about 4 billion tonnes of freight and serving 415 million ferry and cruise passengers every year. Port activities include cargo handling, warehousing and storage, construction of water projects and services relating to water transportation. Directly or indirectly, EU seaports support about 2.5 million jobs, of which the blue economy employs more than half a million people (14 % of jobs in the established blue economy).

The marine extraction of minerals, oil and gas is one of the most established economic sectors of the blue economy.
It represents around 13 % (€22.8 billion) of the gross value added (GVA) of the established blue economy, although it accounts for only 4 % of the jobs (162 374 people). The extraction of minerals accounts for half of employment, followed by support activities (combined – 28 %), offshore oil (13 %) and then natural gas (9 %).
The development of new and more efficient subsea exploitation systems could provide something of a boost to the sector in future, while recent increases in hydrocarbon (oil and gas) prices might make offshore reserves more economically viable.
As offshore oil and gas reserves in the North Sea have been depleted, the decommissioning business for offshore oil and gas platforms is estimated at around €30 billion over the next 30 years. Therefore, decommissioning has become both an environmental challenge and an important motor of the blue economy.

Offshore wind is the most advanced of the emerging and innovative sectors of the blue economy. Employment in the sector continues to grow and was estimated at around 210 000 jobs in 2018 (up from 183 000 in 2017), just over half of the total employment in the broader wind energy sector. Electricity produced from offshore wind serves more than 10 million households in the EU. Most installed capacity is located in the UK (44 %) and Germany (34 %), but offshore wind is also a growing sector in Denmark, Belgium, and the Netherlands.
Wind energy accounted for 60 % of total new investments in power capacity in Europe in 2018, far exceeding all other energy sources. In the EU, the offshore wind capacity is set to increase at least fourfold by 2030, which would put offshore wind on track to become the EU’s largest source of electricity in the 2040s.
The ocean energy sector (tidal and wave power) is rather small in the EU but holds considerable promise. However, tidal and wave power have the greatest potential capacity of all renewable energy sources. Currently over 430 companies in the EU accounting for an estimated 2 250 jobs are involved in different stages of the ocean energy supply chain.