Ocean Accounting for Maritime Transport

Solomon Islands Pilot

Draft Accounts: National Shipping Asset account and Maritime Workforce & Skills Account

11 December 2025

Global Ocean Accounts Partnership Secretariat

Centre for Sustainable Development Reform, University of New South Wales

Table of Contents

Executive Summary

Introduction and Context

Methods Overview

National Shipping Asset Accounts

Maritime Workforce and Skills Accounts

Conclusion

1. Executive Summary

This report presents the first iteration of the pilot ocean accounts for the Solomon Islands, developed under the Global Ocean Accounts Partnership framework to support the nation’s Maritime Development and Resilience Strategy 2024–2030. The pilot establishes internationally standardised baseline measurements of Solomon Islands’ maritime sector capacity and workforce, aligned with the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Central Framework (SEEA-CF) and System of National Accounts 2025 (SNA 2025).

The National Shipping Asset Account documents Solomon Islands’ commercial shipping fleet as of 4 December 2025. The fleet comprises 625 registered vessels, including 224 Solomon Islands-flagged vessels (35.8%) and 401 foreign-flagged vessels operating under SIMA authority (64.2%). The fleet is dominated by cargo vessels (77.8%), with unmanned barges (10.1%) and commercial transport/passenger vessels (12.2%) comprising the remainder. Using Depreciated Replacement Cost methodology, the preliminary valuation of 136 vessels with complete data yields a Net Capital Stock of USD $45.1 million. Approximately 15–16% of the fleet (96–97 vessels) are over 20 years old and approaching end-of-life, indicating a modernisation requirement of USD $50–100 million over the next 5–10 years.

The Maritime Workforce and Skills Account establishes preliminary baseline employment data, capturing 157 registered seafarers in 2024 and 198 in 2025. Compensation analysis reveals clear wage hierarchies aligned with certification levels, with Class 2 Masters earning an average of $15,693 per fortnight while deckhands earn approximately $930 per fortnight. The Deck Department accounts for 37–39% of employment, with ratings/deckhands representing the largest single occupational category at 31–45% of the workforce. Current data coverage represents a subset of the total maritime workforce, with expansion planned once additional data is received and analysed.

These pilot accounts create an integrated evidence base enabling Solomon Islands to track fleet modernisation requirements, understand maritime employment patterns, quantify the sector’s economic contribution for climate finance proposals, and align national maritime data systems with international statistical standards. Further development of the accounts will occur in early 2026 and will complete the baseline, expand workforce data coverage, and develop advanced analytical capabilities including climate risk assessment and skills gap analysis, dependent on breadth and quality of available data.

2. Introduction and Context

Purpose of Pilot Accounts

The Pacific Community (SPC) has funded a consultancy to support the development of a pilot Ocean Account for Solomon Islands' maritime transport sector. The Global Ocean Accounts Partnership (GOAP) Secretariat at UNSW's Centre for Sustainable Development Reform has been engaged to conduct this work, which includes data compilation, stakeholder engagement, capacity development, and the creation of decision-support outputs relevant for planning, policy, and investment.

The objective of this pilot is to develop a foundational ocean accounting exercise for Solomon Islands' maritime transport sector, focusing on building a national shipping asset account and workforce contribution indicators using SEEA (System of Environmental-Economic Accounting)-aligned frameworks. The work will collate and analyse key datasets related to physical maritime assets (vessels and ports) and the maritime workforce (seafarers, employment, and skills), and produce preliminary indicators and visualisations aligned with SEEA principles.

The consultancy will support the Solomon Islands Maritime Authority (SIMA) and national partners to explore the sector's economic and social contribution and inform future investment in maritime services and workforce development. Specifically, the pilot produces two complementary accounts:

National Shipping Asset Account documents the commercial shipping fleet as a produced, non-financial fixed asset, capturing physical inventory (vessel characteristics, ownership, operational status) and economic valuation using internationally recognised capital stock methodologies. This account quantifies the nation's maritime transport infrastructure and identifies renewal requirements to support fleet modernisation planning.

Maritime Workforce and Skills Account establishes baseline employment data, income patterns, training coverage, and skills gap analysis for the maritime transport sector. This account provides evidence to support maritime education investment planning and workforce development strategy, aligning with regional commitments on human capital development.

Together, these accounts create an integrated evidence base enabling Solomon Islands to:

• Track fleet condition and modernisation requirements to inform capital investment strategies
• Understand maritime employment patterns and skills supply-demand alignment to guide education system planning
• Quantify the maritime sector's economic contribution for climate finance proposals and development partner engagement
• Align national maritime data systems with international statistical standards, enabling credible participation in regional and global maritime governance frameworks

The pilot establishes foundational capacity for future ocean accounting expansion to fisheries, port infrastructure, tourism, and ecosystem dimensions, positioning Solomon Islands as a leader in evidence-based ocean governance within the Pacific region.

3. Methods Overview

Alignment with International Accounting Frameworks

The pilot integrates two complementary international statistical frameworks as the authoritative methodological foundation:

System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Central Framework (SEEA-CF) provides the structural template and classification protocols for asset accounting. SEEA-CF distinguishes produced assets (such as vessels, created through human economic activity) from non-produced assets (natural capital), and specifies standardised physical measurement protocols. Maritime vessels are classified within SEEA-CF as produced fixed assets used repeatedly in economic production.

The classification of vessels as produced fixed assets triggers the application of System of National Accounts 2025 (SNA 2025) valuation conventions. SNA 2025 specifies how produced assets are valued using methods such as Depreciated Replacement Cost (DRC) when historical investment data are unavailable, how capital formation and consumption are measured, and how assets are linked to national income, wealth, and productivity accounts.

Integration of SEEA-CF and SNA 2025

The pilot implements an integrated framework structure that simultaneously satisfies SEEA-CF physical measurement standards, SNA 2025 capital stock valuation conventions, and ocean accounting design principles. The relationship between frameworks operates as follows:

SEEA-CF Classification and Physical Measurement:

SEEA-CF provides the authoritative framework for classifying maritime assets. Under SEEA-CF's produced asset classification, maritime vessels are identified as produced fixed assets—physical assets created through human economic activity and used repeatedly in economic production. SEEA-CF specifies that these assets shall be physically measured and described according to standardised protocols including:

• Asset identification and classification (vessel type, function, location)
• Physical characteristics (gross tonnage, dimensions, engine specifications)
• Age and condition
• Ownership and operational status
• Service type and deployment patterns

SNA 2025 Valuation and Capital Stock Measurement:

Once maritime assets are classified as produced fixed assets under SEEA-CF, SNA 2025 provides the valuation methodology and capital stock measurement conventions. The National Shipping Asset Account applies SNA 2025 conventions to measure:

• Gross capital stock (total replacement cost of the fleet at current market prices)
• Net capital stock (replacement cost adjusted for accumulated depreciation, reflecting remaining economic life)
• Consumption of fixed capital (annual depreciation representing asset wear, obsolescence, and service life decline)

Integration for Maritime Labour Accounting:

The Maritime Workforce and Skills Account applies SNA 2025 labour accounting standards, structured around five core labour measurement conventions:

• Employment by occupational role and vessel type (distinguishing jobs from unique persons to capture multiple employment)
• Employment contract type and status (permanent, temporary, casual, owner-operator, classified according to ILO Status in Employment Classification 2018)
• Residency classification (essential for national accounts integration under SNA 2025 residence principle)
• Hours worked and labour input measurement (capturing effective labour input rather than simple headcount)
• Compensation of employees (total remuneration including wages, benefits, and non-wage compensation)

Data Sources and Coverage Assessment

Primary Sources

• SIMA Vessel Registry. The Solomon Islands Maritime Authority (SIMA) maintains the official registry of commercial vessels ≥10 metres. Registry data include vessel identification, characteristics, classification, ownership, and compliance status. The system is maintained under an open-source agreement enabling future technical enhancement.
• Operator Logbooks and Surveys. Major maritime operators maintain detailed voyage logs, fuel consumption records, cargo manifests, and crew assignments. Direct engagement with operators (including Franjti Shipping Limited and coordination through Solomon Islands Maritime Transport Association—SIMTA) yielded operational data on routes, fuel consumption, speeds, and maintenance. Several operators utilise advanced digital data logging systems enabling systematic performance data extraction.
• Port Authority Data. Solomon Islands Ports Authority (SIPA) holds vessel movement records, bunkering data, cargo manifests, and port employment records. Bunkering data from fuel suppliers (SPO, Markworth) provide proxy indicators of vessel fuel consumption and decarbonisation baseline. Cargo manifests document international service patterns.
• Maritime Workforce Data. SIMA crew registry provides enumeration of formally qualified seafarers. Solomon Islands Maritime College (SINU) training records document certification pipeline (pending formal data access request to University Vice-Chancellor).

Known Data Gaps

• Unregistered smaller vessels: Tugs, landing craft, and vessels <10 metres remain untracked; many lack AIS transponders. Estimated through operator surveys but comprehensive enumeration outstanding.
• Incomplete vessel tracking: Only ~10 vessels report positions to SIMA's eGate system. Operations and Safety Department records only capture departures after 1400 hrs.
• Domestic cargo: Not centralised; individual operator reporting required.
• Non-certificated crew: Informal maritime workforce excluded from crew registry; estimated through surveys but requiring formal assessment.

4. National Shipping Asset Accounts

National Shipping Asset Account – Physical Inventory

This is a preliminary account based on data extracted from the Solomon Islands
Maritime Authority (SIMA) e-gates system on 4 December 2025. The account is being published in preliminary form to establish a baseline for the purposes of this deliverable. A final comprehensive account covering the complete 2024 reporting year (as of 31 December 2024) will be produced following the compilation of end-of-year registry data and data validation activities required for finalisation of the accounts.

As the fleet data was extracted from SIMA's e-gates system on 4 December 2025. This date serves as the reference baseline for all statistics, vessel ages, valuations, and fleet characteristics presented in this preliminary account. Implications of such dates are as follows:

• All vessel ages calculated as of 4 December 2025 (not 31 December 2024 or any other date)
• All DRC valuations reflect depreciation to 4 December 2025
• Fleet status (in-country, left) represents registry status on extraction date
• Vessel registrations/deregistrations after 4 December 2025 are not captured in this preliminary account

The Solomon Islands maritime fleet, as registered with SIMA on 4 December 2025, comprises 625 commercial transport vessels:

Source: SIMA e-gates system, extracted 4 December 2025

The fleet is dominated by cargo vessels, with smaller contingents of specialized transport:

Source: SIMA e-gates system, extracted 4 December 2025. Note: Percentages may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

National Shipping Asset Account – Economic Valuation

The Depreciated Replacement Cost (DRC) methodology was applied to estimate the Net Capital Stock of the commercial maritime fleet. DRC is the international standard recommended by SNA 2025 and SEEA-CF for assets where historical investment data is unavailable.

DRC Formula: Net Capital Stock = Replacement Cost × (1 - Cumulative Depreciation Factor)

For this report:

• We did this calculation for 136 vessels with complete data
• Total valuations summed to: USD $45,317,483.45
• Remaining 489 vessels flagged for Phase 2 data collection

Replacement costs were derived from open sourced information, adjusted for Pacific regional variations in maintenance costs, operating intensity, and corrosion rates.

Source: SIMA e-gates extraction (4 Dec 2025).

The value of the maritime fleets are useful in the following planning areas:

• The DRC valuation reveals that approximately 94 vessels (15% of the fleet) are 20+ years old and near end-of-life. When these are replaced with modern vessels (per IMO 2050 carbon targets), the government will need to mobilize USD $50-100 million in capital investment over the next 5-10 years. The current fleet value (USD $45.3 million) serves as the baseline for this investment planning.
• The USD $45.3 million DRC valuation provides the economic case for climate finance proposals to the Green Climate Fund and Asian Development Bank. Proposals can demonstrate: "Our maritime fleet represents USD $45.3 million in national wealth at risk from rising sea levels and increasing storm intensity. Climate-resilient modernization requires USD X million, of which we request concessional financing."
• The USD $45.3 million maritime asset value also contributes directly to Solomon Islands' official national wealth statistics (published annually in the National Accounts). This enables tracking long-term maritime sector development and comparison with other productive sectors.

Fleet Indicators

Fleet age is a critical indicator of modernization needs and climate vulnerability. The Solomon Islands fleet shows characteristics typical of developing maritime nations, with a significant proportion of aging vessels:

Note: Age categories calculated as of 4 December 2025.

As of 4 December 2025, 96-97 vessels (15-16% of the fleet) are over 20 years old and approaching end-of-life. Based on vessel replacement cycles and International Maritime Organization (IMO) 2050 carbon reduction targets:

• Estimated replacement need: USD $50-100 million over 5-10 years

• Financing mechanisms: Green Climate Fund, Asian Development Bank, bilateral development finance

• Timeline: Phase 2 analysis (2026) will produce detailed modernization roadmap

Key fleet statistics are as follows:

Summary & Next Steps

Final 2024 Baseline Data Collection

To complete the December 31, 2024 baseline and produce a final comprehensive account key activities include:

• Request historical SIMA registry snapshot from 31 December 2024
• Recalculate all statistics using correct 2024 baseline
• Conduct operator field surveys to fill age data gaps (current: 37.3% completeness)

Advanced Analysis (Early 2026)

Once baseline data is finalized:

• Complete DRC valuations for remaining 489 vessels

• Calculate Consumption of Fixed Capital (annual depreciation)

• Develop companion Maritime Workforce Account

This preliminary National Shipping Asset Account establishes a comprehensive baseline for the Solomon Islands commercial maritime fleet as of 4 December 2025. The 625-vessel fleet, valued at USD $45.1 million (DRC), represents a critical national asset requiring strategic modernization planning, climate adaptation investment, and integration into official national accounts.

The preliminary nature of this account reflects the timing of data extraction (4 December 2025) relative to the intended 2024 reporting year. The account finalisation, scheduled for completion by 1 February 2026, will produce a final comprehensive account incorporating the December 31, 2024 baseline, complete operator surveys, and/or advanced analytical layers including workforce integration and climate risk assessment.

5. Maritime Workforce and Skills Accounts

The Maritime Workforce and Skills Account provides a structured baseline of employment, earnings, and skills characteristics for the Solomon Islands commercial maritime sector. It is designed to be fully coherent with the System of National Accounts 2025 (SNA 2025) and the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting – Central Framework (SEEA-CF), complementing the National Shipping Asset Account presented in Part A.

Within this integrated framework, vessels are treated as produced fixed assets (SEEA-CF/SNA 2025), while the maritime workforce represents the labour input that enables those assets to generate transport services and economic value. The account focuses initially on seafarers working on SIMA-regulated vessels, with future iterations expected to expand to the wider maritime economy (ports, maritime education, ancillary services).

The Maritime Workforce and Skills Account is structured around five core labour measurement dimensions, aligned with SNA 2025 labour and income accounting conventions:

1. Employment by occupational role and vessel type
   Employment is classified by maritime qualification (e.g., Class 2–6 Masters, Class 3–6 Engineers, ratings/deckhands) and, in later iterations, by vessel type (cargo, passenger, mixed transport, support vessels). The account distinguishes jobs (positions) from persons, allowing for multiple job-holding and seasonal patterns.
2. Employment contract type and status
   Workforce data will ultimately classify jobs by contract type (permanent, temporary, casual, owner-operator) and status in employment, consistent with ILO and SNA 2025 definitions. This will support analysis of job stability, informality, and social protection coverage.
3. Residency classification
   Workers will be classified as resident or non-resident according to SNA’s residence principle, enabling consistent integration of maritime labour into national accounts and balance-of-payments statistics (particularly relevant where foreign seafarers crew foreign-flagged vessels regulated by SIMA).
4. Hours worked and labour input
   Future phases will incorporate hours worked and time-at-sea to estimate effective labour input, beyond simple headcounts. This will support productivity analysis and reconciliation with labour force survey estimates.
5. Compensation of employees and mixed income
   Income data are structured to align with SNA’s “compensation of employees” (wages, salaries, and in-kind benefits) and, where appropriate, “mixed income” for owner-operators. The salary data already extracted from SIMA provide the first experimental estimates of maritime compensation.

This conceptual structure ensures that, once coverage is complete, the Maritime Workforce and Skills Account can be linked directly to:

• the National Shipping Asset Account (through capital–labour productivity indicators)
• the national supply–use and input–output tables (through maritime transport as an industry)
• future ocean accounts for fisheries, ports, and tourism, using consistent SEEA-CF classifications.

SIMA e-gate Crew Records

The main quantitative source for this preliminary account is salary and crew qualification data manually extracted from SIMA’s e-gate system for reference years 2024 and 2025. Because the system currently lacks export functionality, data had to be extracted record-by-record, which has constrained the volume of data that could be included in this first iteration.

Last 05 December, SIMA has provided a summarized version of the following information:

• Maritime qualification / rank (e.g., Class 2 Master, Class 4 Engineer, Deckhand)
• Total annual salary
• Minimum and maximum recorded net fortnightly salary within each qualification class

The e-gate system and crew registry together hold much richer information (including full crew lists by vessel, certification status, and in principle, complete employment counts), but this information has not yet been fully extracted and standardised for statistical use.

Employment Baseline

Preliminary

The preliminary baseline period recorded 157 maritime employees and seafarers in 2024 and 198 in 2025 across Solomon Islands' commercial maritime sector. This population encompasses vessel operators across all size categories, from large domestic inter-island transport vessels to smaller provincial service providers and specialised maritime services.

Source: SIMA-provided data (as of 05 December 2025)

Comprehensive maritime compensation data for Solomon Islands' seafarers reveal significant variation across occupational roles and vessel categories. Analysis of 2024 and 2025 salary data demonstrates both baseline earnings patterns and emerging compensation trends supporting workforce development and wage sustainability assessment. Below is a summary of the year 2024 net fortnight salary of seafarers.

Source: SIMA (as of 05 December 2025)

The wage structure shows a clear hierarchy aligned with maritime certification levels and associated responsibilities. Class 2 Masters receive the highest earnings, with an average of $15,693 per fortnight ($408,024 per annum). Senior officers, including Class 3 Masters and Mates, earn an average of $8,945–$9,162 per fortnight. Lower-ranking officers in Class 4–5 positions receive approximately $2,500–$3,500 per fortnight, while ratings/deckhands earn the lowest average pay at $930 per fortnight ($24,180 per annum).

The Deck Department accounts for the largest share of maritime employment, with 61 seafarers representing 39% of the workforce. This group includes all Class 2–6 Masters and Class 3 Mates, highlighting the central role of deck-level command, navigation, and operational oversight in overall vessel operations. The Engine Department employs 34 seafarers, comprising 22% of the total workforce. These positions are distributed across five engineer classification levels, reflecting the technical complexity and specialized expertise required for the operation and maintenance of vessel propulsion and mechanical systems.

There is also a substantial wage dispersion within several occupational classes. For example, Class 3 Masters receive between $4,966 and $13,358 per fortnight. This variation likely reflects differences in vessel type, operator remuneration practices, route profiles, and individual contractual arrangements.

Deckhands constitute the single largest occupational category, with 49 individuals (31% of the maritime workforce), yet they receive the lowest average remuneration at $930 per fortnight ($24,180 per annum). This combination of high employment concentration and low pay suggests a potential vulnerability to wage pressure and indicates the need to prioritise monitoring of wage levels and working conditions for this group.

Skills, Training & Gaps

The maritime workforce account is closely connected to the skills pipeline managed by the Solomon Islands Maritime College (within SINU) and other training providers. Preliminary consultations indicate:

• The College maintains records on enrolment, course completion, certification, and sometimes post-training employment, but data access requires formal approval from SINU leadership.
• There is no fully standardised accreditation and quality assurance framework covering all maritime courses, and alignment with international standards (e.g., IMO STCW, ILO Maritime Labour Convention) is still in progress.
• Ports and operators report skills shortages in critical operational roles (e.g., crane operators, riggers, stevedore supervisors), sometimes requiring staff to travel overseas (e.g., to Fiji) for specialist training.

From a workforce accounting perspective, this has three implications:

1. Potential mis-match between training output and labour demand – without integrated data on graduates and employment outcomes, it is difficult to assess whether the system is producing the right number and mix of qualifications.
2. Under-utilisation or out-migration of trained seafarers – the crew registry may show more certified officers than are currently employed in domestic maritime operations, indicating emigration, sector exit, or unemployment among qualified seafarers.
3. Need for competency-based indicators – beyond simple counts of certificates, future iterations of the account should incorporate measures of practical competency and on-the-job training.

If data permits, this will link training and certification data with actual employment and pay records, enabling a more robust assessment of skills gaps, career progression, and returns to maritime education.

Summary & Next Steps

The preliminary Maritime Workforce and Skills Account presented here represents an important first step towards comprehensive maritime labour accounting, but reflects the scope of employment and training data available and accessible within the initial drafting timeframe; subsequent versions will progressively incorporate additional data.

Notably, the National Shipping Asset Account (Part A) documents 625 registered vessels in the Solomon Islands commercial fleet, of which over 600 are manned vessels requiring crew. However, the current workforce data included only 157 seafarers in 2024 and 198 seafarers in 2025. This substantial discrepancy indicates that the current salary data extraction from SIMA's system captures only a subset of the total maritime workforce.

Several factors contribute to this coverage gap in this initial draft account. First, the SIMA e-gate system does not currently provide automated export functionality for employment and income data, requiring manual extraction of individual seafarer records. More so, crew data is only limited to rank, socio-demographic profile, and certifications. Second, smaller vessels and those operating provincial inter-island services may employ crew who are not fully documented in the centralised registry system. Third, foreign-flagged vessels (comprising 64.2% of the registered fleet) may employ non-resident seafarers whose employment records are maintained in other jurisdictions.

The current account does not yet include several SNA 2025 labour measurement dimensions that are essential for comprehensive workforce accounting. These include employment contract type and status (distinguishing permanent, temporary, and casual arrangements), residency classification (resident versus non-resident workers), hours worked and labour input measurement, and non-wage compensation components. Additionally, training pipeline data from Solomon Islands Maritime College and skills gap assessments require completion of data access protocols currently under development with Solomon Islands National University.

The following activities are planned to address current data limitations and produce a comprehensive Maritime Workforce and Skills Account:

1. Complete SIMA E-gates Data Extraction: Work with SIMA technical staff to conduct systematic manual extraction of all seafarer employment and salary records, or develop automated export functionality to enable comprehensive data retrieval. The target is to complete enumeration of all registered seafarers with current employment status and compensation data.

2. Operator Survey Implementation: Coordinate with the Solomon Islands Maritime Transport Association (SIMTA) to conduct structured surveys of maritime operators, collecting employment data including crew rosters, contract types, hours worked, and compensation structures. This will capture employment on vessels not fully represented in SIMA's centralised registry.

3. Maritime College Data Access: Finalise data sharing arrangements with Solomon Islands National University to obtain training enrolment, completion, and certification records from Solomon Islands Maritime College. This will enable skills pipeline assessment and identification of training capacity constraints.

4. Crew Registry Reconciliation: Cross-reference SIMA crew registry (documenting all certificated seafarers) with actual employment records to assess skills utilisation rates, identify surplus or deficit in qualified personnel, and evaluate effectiveness of the training-to-employment pipeline.

5. Non-Certificated Workforce Estimation: Develop methodology to estimate the population of non-certificated maritime workers employed on smaller vessels and in informal maritime services, potentially through targeted household surveys or operator-based enumeration.

6. Skills Gap Analysis: Upon completion of training and employment data collection, conduct comprehensive skills gap analysis comparing maritime sector labour demand with training system output, identifying priority areas for curriculum development and capacity expansion.

7. SNA 2025 Integration: Ensure final account structure fully implements all five SNA 2025 labour measurement dimensions, enabling seamless integration with Solomon Islands' national accounts, labour force surveys, and economic statistics.

8. Conclusion

This pilot establishes the first comprehensive, internationally standardised ocean accounts for Solomon Islands, creating an integrated evidence base for evidence-based maritime sector governance. The three complementary components, the National Shipping Asset Account, Maritime Workforce and Skills Account, and Spatial Dashboard, together provide a systematic framework for understanding and managing Solomon Islands’ maritime sector in alignment with the Maritime Development and Resilience Strategy 2024–2030.

The National Shipping Asset Account documents a 625-vessel commercial fleet valued at USD $45.1 million (preliminary), with critical insights into fleet composition, age distribution, and modernisation requirements. The identification of 96–97 vessels (15–16%) approaching end-of-life provides the evidence base for strategic capital investment planning, with estimated fleet renewal costs of USD $50–100 million over the next 5–10 years. This valuation also establishes the foundation for climate finance proposals and development partner engagement, demonstrating the economic significance of maritime assets at risk from climate impacts.

The Maritime Workforce and Skills Account captures preliminary employment and compensation data for 157 seafarers (2024) and 198 seafarers (2025), revealing clear wage hierarchies aligned with certification levels. While current coverage represents a subset of the total maritime workforce, a gap highlighted by the discrepancy between 600+ manned vessels and documented employment, the account establishes the structural framework for comprehensive workforce measurement aligned with SNA 2025 labour accounting conventions.

Looking ahead, the remaining activities as part of this pilot (scheduled for completion in end of January 2026) will address current data limitations and produce comprehensive accounts incorporating the complete December 2024 baseline, expanded workforce coverage through systematic SIMA data extraction and operator surveys, training pipeline assessment through Solomon Islands Maritime College data integration, and advanced analytical layers including climate risk assessment and skills gap analysis. The methodological foundation and institutional relationships established through this pilot position Solomon Islands as a regional leader in evidence-based ocean governance, with the capacity to expand ocean accounting to fisheries, port infrastructure, tourism, and ecosystem dimensions in subsequent phases.

The pilot demonstrates that rigorous, internationally comparable ocean accounts are both feasible and valuable for Small Island Developing States. By integrating SEEA-CF physical measurement standards with SNA 2025 economic valuation conventions, Solomon Islands now possesses the analytical infrastructure to track maritime sector development, inform investment priorities, support climate adaptation planning, and engage credibly with regional and global maritime governance frameworks.