AMSA: Seafarers must have a voice in shaping shipping’s future

Among other things, Jeanine points out that there is still much work to be done to increase the participation of women in the industry, but that the most important thing is that the entire sector needs to modernize in order to cater to the needs of the younger generation and highlight the exciting career opportunities that the sector can provide.

S4S: What are your top priorities in the agenda taking the helm as the new Chair of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) Board?

Jeanine Drummond: As the Chair of the AMSA Board, my top priorities include:

• Continue to evolve the outstanding work that AMSA is recognised for both nationally and internationally.
• Seeing relevant, innovative and meaningful regulatory improvements and practices for sustainable maritime safety and protection of marine environment, search and rescue.
• Leading AMSA’s strategic direction as maritime safety and environment protection, continues to evolve with immediate priorities for decarbonisation, and safe implementation and integration of evolving technologies such as digitisation, AI and remote operations, while maintaining key focus on people, integration of human centred design and human factors.
• Ensure effective governance and performance of a Commonwealth Authority.
• Making sure people, collaboration and inclusion are central to the work at AMSA and within our maritime community’s. Working together with industry and other regulators, government departments and industry to deliver on a sustainable maritime industry of the future, where Australian youth from all walks of life will continue to be attracted to work in an industry that is modern, evolving and reflects the community’s they live.

Further encourage industry-wide positive reporting culture of all hazards, incidents and risk events so as to improve analysis, data and information on where proactive safety campaigns, initiatives, regulatory improvements that can prevent incidents.

S4S: As a female leader, what has been the most significant barrier in your career? What is your advice to achieve diversity, equality, and inclusion in the maritime industry?

J.Dr.: In my experiences, the most significant barriers are often invisible.  At the time where I had consolidated my learnings and experiences in senior roles at sea, and had moved ashore working in the ports and my career was finding new legs it coincided at a time when I was wishing to start a family.  At the time there was limited pathways or options that supported retention of women in maritime operational roles during this stage and it would have been easier to walk away from the maritime industry, yet I loved working in the industry and wanted to be able to keep using the knowledge and skills I had gained in the previous 12 years. There were no policies, or health standards that provided for adjustments that may be required in working conditions while pregnant, breastfeeding or for parental leave.  There was also no training or education provided to all people in the industry, especially senior leaders onboard vessels, on how to foster inclusive workplace culture, or how to identify, support, report or investigate situations of harassment or discrimination, and the barrier of very rigid rosters, along with ‘because we’ve always done it that way’. While it is pleasing to see these barriers, alongside many others slowly disappearing, it is evident in recent discussions with younger people in the industry that there is still a lot of work to be done before women’s participation in the maritime industry, especially in the operational workplaces will be considered normal and reflective of the community’s we live in.

To improve diversity, equality, equity and inclusion we need improved education, understanding and application for all people in maritime on what DEI is and how it relates differently to our individual workplaces.  This would result in implementation of workplace specific strategies that overlay the existing safety management system, where DEI and SMS work together to integrate human factors that enhance operational and personal safety, as well as physical and mental well-being.  This requires senior leaders to identify gaps in organisational understanding and input of DEI, and seek out opportunities through consultations, DEI working groups, shadow leadership groups to ensure that all people have an opportunity to influence improved workplace culture and operational safety, as well as physical and mental well being.

S4S: Are you satisfied with industry stakeholders’ response on the issue of crew welfare until today? How should industry stakeholders work to improve life onboard and foster seafarers’ resilience?

J.Dr.: It is essential that seafarers working at sea, across a variety of different trades and operations have significant input into what seafarers really need in way of improved conditions onboard.  Seafarers trading globally work in what is often a truly unique and isolated environment, with a small team of people for long periods of time, where work and living is mixed together, different languages, religions, cultures and caste, and often difficult to differentiate personal, social and work time whilst onboard and it becomes a mix of all three while you eat meals and do laundry with your colleagues, and then work together during periods of high stress or low workload. Working seafarers must have a voice in shaping shipping’s future both in terms of onboard living conditions and in adapting application of decarbonization strategies, technology, and digitisation to onboard operations.

S4S: What key lessons have you learned during your time in the industry, and what advice would you give to others?

J.Dr.: Developing a growth a mindset by being able to listen, learn and evolve in knowledge, skills, thinking and outcomes to foster and influence change in an evolving industry with purpose.  I encourage everyone to be inviting others who have had different experiences to their own, or different skill set, competency, personality, background etc in to discussions so they can see and appreciate other perspectives that are not apparent in their own vision or experience of a situation.

S4S: What needs to change to raise industry’s profile and attract the future talents?

J.Dr.: Sadly much of the news the general public learns about the maritime industry is about incidents, groundings, supply chain issues, crew welfare concerns, fatalities, all leaving a negative impression.  There is a significant lack of the good news stories about the positive contribution that shipping, ports and seafarers make to our every day life, protection of the maritime environment. When general public think of shipping, most still think of big old steering wheels, and Captains with grey beards smoking a pipe, they don’t see the evolving technology, instrumentation, autonomy and remote vessel operations that will be the future talents experience of maritime.  Many young people today are raised in a world of instantaneous knowledge and connectivity, with computers, devices and smartphones, social media being a normal part of every day life.   It is important that the industry adjusts to what a younger generation will look for, and quickly, so as to showcase a modern and exciting maritime industry so as to attract future generations.

S4S: What is your key message to industry stakeholders to foster a more sustainable future for shipping?

J.Dr.: Every big and small action matters everyday. The years seem to tick by faster every year, it is with overdue haste that all industry stakeholders work together with coordinated collaboration, fostering a culture of shared learning and curiosity to deliver on a more sustainable future for shipping as soon as possible.

The views presented hereabove are only those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of SAFETY4SEA and are for information sharing and discussion purposes discussion purposes only.