Swedish ferry operator Stena Line improved its gender diversity in the past year, with a reported increase of female leaders from 16 % to 19 %, the company said in its annual sustainability review released this week.
Gender equality and inclusion was introduced as a new focus area in 2018, Stena Line noted. The organization set a target of increasing the number of female leaders to 30 % and with a zero vision of harassment.
In 2018, Stena Line also signed the UK Chamber of Shipping ‘Women in Maritime’ pledge, a charter aimed at boosting gender diversity and improve fairness, equality and inclusion in the maritime sector. Stena Line also introduced a long-term partnership with EuroPride.
These actions address the UN Sustainable Development Goal 5, referring to equality & inclusion of women.
Stena Lines sustainability strategy is divided into five focus areas tied to the UN Global Goals, including also Good health & wellbeing, Clean energy, Responsible consumption, and Life below water.
Among other sustainability highlights in 2018, Stena Line cited AI assisted vessels to save fuel, battery power propulsion, reduction of single use plastic onboard, as well as continued low level of crew and passenger accidents.
With size comes responsibility and our ambition is to improve our operations every year to become a leader in sustainable shipping. The past year we have had exiting developments pairing artificial intelligence with the know-how of our experienced employees on-board as well as increased focus on electrification. We have continued our efforts within crew and passenger safety as well as launched a new initiative for more diversity in our operations,
…stated Stena Line CEO Niclas Mårtensson.
Women in leadership positions remains a hot issue across all business sectors, and maritime included. Especially in shipping, which is considered as a male-dominated sector, women would be rarely seen in senior leadership positions before; however, the industry has shed its focus in the last years to tackle imbalance for a more sustainable future.
Highlights 2018
Equality & inclusion
- Equality & inclusion: A new focus area was introduced in 2018 with a target of increasing the number of female leaders to 30 % and with a zero vision of harassment.
- Gender diversity improved: An increase of female leaders from 16 % to 19 % in 2018.
- Partnerships: Stena Line signed the UK Chamber of Shipping pledge “Women in Maritime” and introduced a long-term partnership with EuroPride.
Good health & wellbeing
- Safety first: The company showed a continued low level of crew & passenger accidents as well as a 99,8% technical reliability towards scheduled departures.
- Safety awards: Nine vessels were awarded for safety by the Chamber of Shipping of America.
Clean energy
- AI assisted vessels save fuel: During 2018 Stena Line equipped the first vessel, Stena Scandinavica on the Gothenburg-Kiel route, with artificial intelligence (AI) technology to support the captains and officers to save fuel and lower emissions. The project has been successful and when launched fleet wide, the AI assistant will make an important contribution to Stena Line’s target to reduce fuel consumption by 2,5 % per nautical mile annually.
- Electromobility for shipping: A first battery hybrid project was launched with a 1 MWh battery installation on-board Stena Jutlandica on the Gothenburg-Frederikshavn route.
- Shore power: The company connected its 14th ship to green shore side electricity in the Port of Oslo. In total 37 % of the fleet, and 20 % of the terminals, are now equipped with shore power connections and save 14,000 mt of CO2 per year.
Responsible consumption
- Reduced single use plastic: Stena Line has a target to reduce all single use plastic on board. In 2018 the company reduced the use of single use plastics onboard with close to 90% in some business regions.
- Increased amount of recycling: Another target is to improve the amount of recycled waste. The recycling in ports increased and a total of 77 % of total waste is now material recycled or energy recycled.
Life below water
- Doubled use of ecolabel chemicals: During 2017/2018 Stena Line doubled the use of ecolabel detergents in passenger and kitchen areas to 60 %.
- Innovative antifouling: Stena Line is testing several initiatives for cleaner antifouling such as ultrasonic transducers, silicon based paint and the innovative bio-repellent Selektope which was painted on new-building Stena Estrid during 2018.
Explore more herebelow:
