English is “lingua franca” in the maritime industry. Due to the shift from “knowing the vocabulary“ to “being able to use the English language in one’s workplace“, students are supposed not only to acquire maritime vocabulary but also be able to use it efficiently in the maritime context. In order to achieve this goal, students have to acquire large amounts of maritime vocabulary effectively and efficiently. The study analyses the strategies for vocabulary acquisition and how students use them in their studies. The results of the study show that lecturers acquaint students with basic maritime terminology. Students do not use all vocabulary learning strategies equally. The recommendations include encouraging the use of productive skills for vocabulary activation; more attention should be paid to the vocabulary learning strategies of memorizing and encoding, word formation and guessing from the context.