To celebrate the first International Day for Women in Maritime, Maritime UK is launching the brand-new Global Women in Maritime Series. The Maritime Minister has welcomed the initiative, which will open up global dialogue on best practices and lessons learned from being women in maritime on either side of the world.
In 2018, Maritime UK established the Women in Maritime programme to address gender fairness, equality and inclusion within the maritime sector. A Taskforce was created to bring together leaders from across the maritime sector to identify practical steps to increase the number of women in maritime.
In 2019, the Minister for Transport released the Maritime 2050 People Route Map which celebrated the work of Women in Maritime and called for Maritime UK to expand on these foundations to develop Diversity in Maritime, which celebrated 2 years since being launched on 6 May. The Diversity in Maritime Programme is sponsored by Stena Line and Port of Aberdeen.
UK Maritime notes that the creation of the International Day for Women in Maritime shows a recognition of the role that women play in the sector and the progress that has been made since the Women in Maritime Network was first established.
On International Women’s Day 2022, the Women in Maritime Network launched the Menopause Hub, a free online resource, which has been designed to share good practice, polices, case studies and self-care guidance to assist employees experiencing menopause and employers supporting employees going through the menopause.
Furthermore, UK Maritime encourages all organisations that want to break the bias, to sign the Women in Maritime Pledge. Signatories to the pledge will be making clear their support for creating positive change within their respective organisations, and collectively, across the UK maritime sector.
Robert Courts, Minister for Maritime said:
Women have made and continue to make an invaluable contribution to the global maritime sector. It is critical that we recognise and celebrate their achievements on this inaugural day.
Chrissie Clarke, Head of Diversity and Operations, Maritime UK added that making progress on diversity and inclusion is a global challenge while Sue Terpilowski, Co-Chair, Diversity in Maritime Taskforce/Chair, Women in Maritime Network highlighted that ‘women’s equality cannot wait’.
