Expectations of maritime university students of future work on a ship

The main goal of education at a maritime university is to provide students with knowledge and practical skills necessary for future work on a ship. To receive the diploma of merchant navy officer, students are required to complete a 12-month maritime internship. During the internship, as well as during the entire course of studies, students' expectations regarding their future professional work are developed, related to, among others, working and living conditions on a ship, employment conditions and cooperation with the shipowner. These expectations determine the students’ subsequent choices towards a given shipowner as a potential employer, as well as their decisions about further professional development in this field. From the point of view of operational management, it is therefore important for the shipowner to know the requirements that must be met in order to have a motivated and competent staff. This article aims to classify the requirements for students relative to their future work on a ship based on assessing the impact of the requirement fulfilment level against the level of their satisfaction. The results obtained made it possible to indicate those requirements regarding working conditions, the fulfilment of which should be treated by shipowners as a priority, because they determine the students’ satisfaction to the highest degree.