Abstract: An increasing demand for seafarers is a corollary of the growth in the world merchant fleet. The Maritime industry has evolved from a traditional skill based, labor-intensive trade to one demanding sophisticated tertiary education. This study firstly investigates the academic needs and lacks of Sri Lankan Maritime professionals and then moves to ascertain Shipping Company qualification expectations focusing on tertiary level Maritime Education. The methodology for the first component had a population of 164 Sri Lankan merchant Seafarers with a Sri Lankan CDC/ COC. An online survey was conducted for a period of 3 months.