B.Sea: Centrale Nantes is involved in this major training initiative for the transition of the maritime industries

Led by CINav and co-developed with 14 academic and industrial partners, the B.Sea platform will, from 2027, offer training programmes ranging from vocational qualifications to PhDs, in both initial and continuing education, focusing on the major challenges of decarbonisation and energy transition in the maritime sector.

A maritime sector undergoing major transformation

As the world’s second-largest maritime nation, France possesses a maritime sector that is strategic for its industrial and energy future.

Today, the maritime industries represent:

• 130,000 jobs,
• over 1,000 different roles,
• €35 billion in turnover.

But this sector faces a twofold challenge:

• Accelerating its eco-energy transition,
• Training and recruiting the skills needed to support this change.

Decarbonisation of ships, new energy systems, the development of marine renewable energy, changes in environmental regulations… training needs now affect all maritime professions.

From FORTEIM to B.Sea: a landmark project for the sector

B.Sea builds on the FORTEIM project (Training for the Energy Transition of the Maritime Industries), launched in 2024.

Winner of France 2030’s ‘Skills and Professions of the Future’ call for expressions of interest, the project receives €5 million in state funding. Its total budget, co-financed by the partners, amounts to nearly €10 million over three years.

From the outset, the project has brought together scientific experts, industry representatives, educational engineering specialists and training providers around a common goal: to build a benchmark training framework addressing the challenges of the maritime industries’ transition.

Now in its operational phase, B.Sea plans a large-scale roll-out of its training programmes from October 2027.

The role of Centrale Nantes and Centrale Nantes Executive Education

A partner in the project since its launch, Centrale Nantes contributes to the development of B.Sea through Centrale Nantes Executive Education, its continuing education service.

The service is leading the development of e-learning modules focused on marine renewable energy (MRE), one of the platform’s key themes and a strategic area for the maritime sector. The teams are responsible for the scientific content and pedagogical design of these materials, which are available both as an introductory module open to a wide audience and as an advanced module aimed at industry professionals.

The school is thus making its recognised expertise in the field of marine renewable energy available to help train professionals capable of supporting the sector’s transformation.

Centrale Nantes is also contributing to several other training modules covering the production, use and storage of hydrogen, the decarbonisation of energy and the decarbonisation of ships.

Innovative and immersive learning tools for the marine renewable energy sector

To support this new training programme, Centrale Nantes Executive Education is helping to develop innovative learning tools designed to make the learning experience more immersive and more closely aligned with real-world conditions.

These include L’Île décarbonée (carbon-free island), an educational video game led by Centrale Nantes that allows learners to step into the shoes of a marine renewable energy project manager. Through a realistic scenario, they must analyse the characteristics of a region, select suitable technologies, take regulatory and environmental constraints into account, and develop a coherent decarbonisation strategy spanning several decades.

Centrale Nantes is also contributing to the development of Kimata, an immersive educational simulator dedicated to offshore wind power, led by Centrale Méditerranée. This tool allows users to interact in a 3D environment with various offshore wind turbine technologies and to understand the technical challenges associated with their design, installation, operation and decommissioning.

Screenshot from the educational game The Carbon-Free Island

Screenshot of the Kimata simulator

The design of these tools draws on a range of complementary skills, bringing together lecturers and researchers, experts in marine renewable energy, educational engineers, and professionals from the video game and digital development sectors.

Ultimately, these resources will be suitable for use in both initial training and continuing professional development programmes.

A training platform accessible at all levels

B.Sea will eventually offer nearly 130 hours of training, comprising:

• 11 digital introductory modules
• 3 advanced modules

The content will cover, in particular:

• Climate change and its impacts on marine environments,
• Biodiversity and pollution,
• Eco-design and life-cycle analysis,
• Decarbonisation of ships,
• On-board energy,
• Hydrogen,
• Marine renewable energy,
• Offshore wind power.

The platform has been designed to cater to all audiences, from vocational qualifications to PhDs, in order to foster a shared understanding of the challenges facing the maritime sector’s transition.

Ultimately, B.Sea aims to train 10,000 learners a year across France.

The project also relies on innovative teaching formats to make learning more practical and accessible.

B.Sea will notably include:

• Animated videos
• Contributions from scientific experts
• Serious games
• Immersive simulations

As well as experiments at the Open-C Foundation’s offshore test sites.

The aim is to train future professionals in the maritime sector using teaching tools tailored to the operational realities of the professions.

The partners of the B.Sea project

Alongside CINav, this project currently brings together:

• Centrale Nantes
• AFPA
• CEA
• Centrale Méditerranée
• CINav
• ENSTA Bretagne
• EVOLEN
• Open-C Foundation
• France Énergies Marines
• ikigai games
• National Museum of Natural History
• Naval Group
• NYX
• Université de Bretagne Occidentale
• Wind Ship