From time immemorial, seafaring has been seen as a job for men and not for women. Having women in the maritime industry is indeed rare.
The shipping industry is one of the sectors affected by gender inequality. Women are often seen as the weaker sex, thereby making it difficult or sometimes impossible for them to be seen in some certain industries, especially the maritime industry. Due to the stigma of being seen as incapable, most women avoid going into the marine industry even if it is their true passion.
The society at large plays a huge part in encouraging gender in-equality. Females are often discouraged by family members from taking up courses, they feel or think are not suitable for women. Sometimes even when some females still decides or are determined to go ahead and study maritime in the university, the stigmatization continues which leads most
of them to drop out of the course and go into less controversial courses for women.
The shipping industry will progress or advance more if both women and men are giving the same opportunity. Like the sentence often used by seafarers ‘’all hands on deck’’ implies, we need all hands on deck in the shipping industry. We need the men and women in the maritime field to come together and work towards the betterment and advancement of the shipping industry. Women seafarers should be allowed to utilize and even discover their full potentials.
Industries that practice gender equality have been known to excel greatly, like the medical field, for example. Women are given the same opportunities as men in this field. There are many female doctors now all over the world, and there are still some upcoming ones in the university. There are many notable female doctors today that invented or discovered beneficial and
essential treatments or facts in the world of medicine.
The male population has dominated the Maritime industry for so long. It is time to embrace gender equality and allow females to excel alongside the males in the world of shipping. There are some notable women in maritime, but they are not given the right recognition they deserve. Women need to be given as many accolades as the men in the shipping industry.
More female seafarers are needed in maritime; women need to be encouraged and empowered to become seafarers.International Maritime Organization (IMO) have done some commendable things in the aspect of empowering women in maritime. The World Maritime Day theme for 2019 was themed empowering women, and lots of meaningful discussions were made concerning the women in maritime and the aspirants as well. This was an excellent way of recognizing the women in the field and already and also creating awareness of the importance of women in the shipping industry. It also helped in encouraging or urging more women to join the world of maritime. IMO consistently show their support of gender equality in maritime. They provide quality training for women in the maritime field, and they have also established lots of associations for professional women in maritime and many more women
empowering gestures. This is what the shipping industry needs, more gestures like this. It is time to encourage women to join and play vital roles in the shipping industry.
PERCENTAGE OF FEMALES IN MARITIME
The numbers of women in Maritime are so little. Maritime is a male-dominated field that has been tagged as a red zone for women all over the world. Few women still manage to break the protocols set by the society by joining the maritime field.
In the total number of Mariners around the world, just 2% of them are women; the remaining percentage of them are men. The most alarming and sad part of it all is that in the 2% of female mariners, 94% of them are in the cruise section. Female seafarers are always underrated; they should be allowed to play vital roles in the shipping industry. Females can also work in the logistics and trading sectors, not just in the cruise sector.
WHAT CAN BE DONE TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF FEMALE SEAFARERS
Unlike some other industries, the shipping industry still records a deficient number of female seafarers as a result of gender inequality. The world has significantly evolved in the aspect of gender equality; it is time for the shipping industry to join in the evolution.
Women in the shipping industry need to be given more empowerment, encouragement and opportunity. Thanks to IMO and other organizations like it, the awareness of the importance of female seafarers has broadened. The world at large needs to be thought that females can also
contribute to the economy of the world. Most females who showed their interest in maritime at a very young age were taught that seafaring was not an occupation for women. Growing up with such a mindset, knowing that they can’t do what they love because they are women is indeed a terrible thing.
To improve the number of female seafarers, the mindset of women that we’re discouraged from venturing into the shipping industry needs to be changed. More awareness needs to be raised, starting from high schools. A platform for aspiring female seafarers needs to be established to encourage them to pursue their passion continuously. More training institutes for female seafarers should be created as a form of empowerment, and more recognitions should be given to notable female seafarers.
The male seafarers also have a role to play in increasing the population of female seafarers. The males need to be more open-minded; they need to acknowledge the fact that seafaring is not just for men but also women. More roles/opportunities should be given to women in the
maritime industry. Women are stronger than they look and are capable of handling difficult situations.
An example to portray how capable women are, is Captain Radhika Menon, Master of the oil product tanker Sampurna Swarajya. She is known for playing an active role in rescuing 7 Fishermen in the Bay of Bengal from sinking with their fishing boat as a result of a turmoil. This goes a long way to show that women are indeed necessary in the shipping industry.
Female seafarers should be given more chance to spread their wings in the Maritime
world.
