Tag: women in shipping

In our special column this month, we are pleased to host an interview with Mrs Lena Dyring, Director, Cruise Operations, Norwegian Seafarers’ Union, who describes how she joined shipping industry, highlighting that her job gives her the opportunity not only to make a difference for seafarers but also for women seafarers in particular.

Similar to their male co-workers, women also feel isolated or lonely at sea. This may be exacerbated if they are the only woman onboard or they face gender-based discrimination due to forming part of a male-dominated industry.

In efforts to achieve gender equality on a global scale, the United Nations issued a report, revealing that according to 2019's data, fewer companies had been setting goals and targets to achieve equality, while even more companies have been reporting progress.

ECSA expressed its support for a gender-balanced shipping industry during the European Shipping Week, highlighting the importance of women in shipping and promotion of gender diversity.

The London Port Authority (LPA) issued a statement informing that they join the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in the fight for more diversity and equality in the male-dominant shipping industry.

Celebrating the International Women's Day, IMO's gender programme announced launch of a photo search to build its bank of images of women in maritime. The move came as IMO believes the media have a great potential to promote gender equality.

In light of the International Women's Day, Celebrity Cruises informed that for the first time in the history of shipping, an all-female bridge and hotel officer team cruise ship set sail. In fact, the cruise vessel "Celebrity Edge" started its seven-day journey on 8 March 2020, with 27 women from 16 different countries onboard.

Gender pay gap is a significant part of gender discrimination across all business sectors and maritime included. Recent ILOSTAT data showed that the median gender wage gap for 115 countries with available data is 14% in favor of men. In shipping, the latest survey by HR Consulting from Spinnaker Global showed men earn almost 44% more than women.

During a TUC Women's Conference in London, the topic of discussion focused on women's menstrual products and the obstacles women in shipping face during menstrual days when onboard. The discussions around menstrual products are on the spotlight the past couple years, with many supporting the decrease of VAT on sanitary products. 

Dr Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, President of the World Maritime University (WMU) spoke during the European Shipping Week (ESW) with a keynote address on Gender diversity: Better for People, Better for the Profession, Better for the Industry.