Is the tide finally turning on gender imbalance in the maritime industry?

At the most recent bunker training course run by Petrospot in Oxford, two thirds of the attendees were female.

In many other business situations this wouldn’t be anything unusual; however the balance of gender on the Petrospot course was quite remarkable for the shipping industry because at most 4 per cent of the maritime industry’s sea-based workforce is female, and in the Merchant Navy, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) estimates that women make up only 2 per cent of the world’s maritime workforce.

The important question to ask though is, does this attendance reflect the gender change in our industry that we’ve been waiting for?

Find out here.

This appeared in www.hellenicshipnews.com

The Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA) was started forty years ago with just six women from three different European countries. Today, it has almost 2,000 members in thirty-three countries with representatives from nearly every sector of the maritime industry. Accounting for just two percent of the world’s maritime workforce of over 1.3 million, women continue to forge their place within the male-dominated sector, encouraging a more diverse, innovative and sustainable future.

Read this article to get inspired by these leading ladies’ quotes about working in the maritime sector.

This appeared in www.knect365.com

The IMO aims to create a gender balance in the maritime and shipping industry. With their gender balance programme under the slogan: “Training-Visibility-Recognition“, IMO has taken a strategic approach towards enhancing the contribution of women as key maritime stakeholders.

Watch this short film showing how IMO’s women in Maritime programme is helping to support gender diversity in the maritime sector.

On 26 August, Lieutenant Commander Zimasa Mabela took command of the SAS Umhloti, a South African Navy Mine Counter Measure Vessel. In doing so, she became the first woman to take charge of a South African naval ship.

During 2015, the need to advance women’s role in maritime activities has become a subject of unprecedented awareness and interest. And for good reason. The International Transport Workers’ Federation estimates that only 2% of the world’s maritime workforce is made up of women.

It is time to change this statistic by enhancing opportunities for women to be educated and gain experience in maritime activities. Equally important is changing the culture in the maritime sector to reduce the prejudices women encounter on a daily basis. Fortunately, there is evidence that efforts to do so are yielding results, even though building experience among women in the sector is no easy task.

Shipping and seafaring, from the time people first put to sea, has become increasingly diverse in terms of race, class, and nationality. Sailors work for a mix of individual owners and companies that reflect this intricate and globalised industry that the world economy depends on. However, the diversity of the motley crew of global seafarers has yet to take on a visible mixture of men and women – as many seafaring occupations remaining the preserve of men.

The long interaction of (mostly) men and the sea has also created significant cultural barriers to the participation of women in seafaring. This is, however, no excuse for the continued exclusion of women, or for failing to support the many women who have pushed past out-dated gender norms and made great strides in improving the participation of women in maritime.

Continue reading about the efforts made to bring more women into the maritime industry.

This appeared in www.weforum.org

Studies have shown that women have excellent opportunities today to pursue careers in maritime law, shipping business and administrations than was the case 30 years ago!

More and more organisations are showing interest to address and provide solutions to the following questions through mentoring, coaching and/or training:

• Are you hoping to increase women seafarers motivation and engagement?
• Do you want to improve women seafarers performance?
• Are you interested in increasing the number of women in leadership roles and the number of women who should be in leadership roles based on demographics, ability and interest?

Read about how to encourage women to work in maritime here.

This article appeared in www.safety4sea.com

Global maritime charity Stella Maris (Apostleship of the Sea) is marking Day of the Seafarer by paying tribute to female seafarers and cruise ship crew members.

The charity is also highlighting the vital role its female trustees, port chaplains, head office staff and volunteers play.

This year’s International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) theme for Day of the Seafarer is ‘I Am on Board with gender equality’.

AoS Board Member Theresa Crossley said, “The maritime sector has generally been behind the curve on gender equality, so it’s great that the IMO had really picked up the baton with the ‘I Am on Board with gender equality’ campaign.

“But someone said to me recently: “You can’t be what you don’t see.” In other words, women need to take up roles and responsibilities that have been traditionally the preserve of men and be visible in those roles, if we are to inspire our girls and young women for the future.”

Continue reading here.

This article appeared in www.maritime-executive.com

Despite greater awareness of the gender imbalance, advancement of women in shipping, particularly at sea, is slow.

In 1918, Victoria Drummond became an apprentice at the Caledon Shipyard in Dundee, the start of a journey to becoming Britain’s first female marine engineer, earning honours for bravery at sea during the Second World War. A century later and Victoria’s personal battle to conquer the maritime industry has yet to translate into gender equality. While progress has been made, statistics still show a woeful 2 percent of seafarers worldwide are women, while just a third of global shore-based maritime positions are filled by women.

“There is more action today to raise equality than ever before and that has to be recognised,” says Despina Panayiotou Theodosiou, president of the Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA International) and chief executive of Cyprus-based Tototheo Maritime. “But substantial, effective change needs time, collaboration and patience.”

Read more about which steps need to be taken to raise equality in the maritime industry here.

This article appeared in www.raconteur.net

On the International Day of the Seafarer, the campaign theme of which is ‘I Am On Board with gender equality’ driven by the 2019 World Maritime Day theme (Empowering Women in the Maritime Community), Human Rights at Sea publishes the updated story and case study of Electro Technical Officer, Amreen Bano: an Indian seafarer who is helping to lead the way to increased inclusion and acceptance of women at sea.

The case study outlines the underpinning of her Muslim faith, her immediate family support, her constant drive in the face of bias and adversity, including the challenges she has faced to achieve her qualifications and Certificate of Competence as the first and youngest female ETO in India, in a previously male-dominated industry.

To read more, click here.

This appeared in www.themaritimeexecutive.com

In line with IMO’s World Maritime Day theme for 2019 ‘Empowering Women in the Maritime Community’, ABS issued a video depicting few of the organization’s female leaders discussing career advice for women pursuing a career in the maritime industry.

Click here to watch the video.

This appeared in www.safety4sea.com

25 July 2019

The paraphrasing of Neil Armstrong’s words some fifty years ago sums up one visionary’s thoughts on the impact of autonomy on the future of global shipping.

A presentation by Filip Koscielecki of the UK Club entitled ‘Autonomous Shipping – Revolution by Evolution’ took his enthralled audience through the vast array of technical, regulatory, commercial and legal issues that are potentially created by the inevitable progression towards more autonomous ships.

Among other considerations which present challenges to autonomy Filip explored the seaworthiness and navigating capabilities of unmanned or restricted crew vessels; greater exposure to cyber-attack; the consequences of robotic and AI control of ships and legal responsibility and liability.

“The benefits of autonomous shipping are many and will drive the future progress of such technology in what may, in the future be termed revolutionary,” said Filip.  “However the wide-spread ramifications that will surely disrupt the traditional shipping environment will have to be carefully managed.  Therefore, evolutionary steps towards autonomy will characterise the path of such progression.”

The recent industry soirée, organised by WISTA UK as part of its regular programme of networking meetings accompanied by an in-depth lecture on a shipping issue of the day, was hosted by Thomas Miller managed insurance mutuals, the UK P&I Club and the UK Defence Club.

Bridget Hogan, Secretary of WISTA UK gave thanks to Thomas Miller for its support.  “At WISTA we believe in free-thinking and cordial debate on vital issues affecting maritime and trade.  We hold monthly events to bring together professionals from across the whole spectrum of shipping to educate themselves, present their opinions and meet like-minded colleagues who hope to make a difference.”  The events are open to WISTA members, their guests and anyone from the shipping community who wishes to participate. www.wista-uk.net

The insurance mutuals that hosted this event are representative of the Thomas Miller Group’s whose aim is to share its technical and legal expertise with not just those that it insures but the maritime sector as a whole.  The resources, skills and experience of the Group’s claims, legal, underwriting and risk management personnel qualifies it to advise on a variety of subjects touching the present and future make-up of the industry.

Filip is an advocate for digital transformation in shipping and insurance and has published several articles on this subject. A PDF of  his Legal Briefing, ‘Autonomous Shipping – Revolution by Evolution’ can be accessed here