The new qualitative study from the Global Maritime Forum and the All Aboard Alliance contains a wide spectrum of perspectives from women seafarers who address the challenges they experience at sea, from ill-fitting safety gear to slower career progression, and harassment.
15 key pain points
From the anonymous interviews, the All Aboard Alliance has identified 15 key pain points which fall into four broad categories:
- Difficult for women to succeed professionally at sea.
- Challenging social relations onboard.
- Employment challenges at sea.
- Physical conditions onboard.
Some of the pain points are already known, but the detailed accounts are very valuable. The study itself contains a selection of the quotes recorded to illustrate the pain points.
Inclusive for women
We do not want them to leave their careers at sea because we need them and we need many more"
“We need to make life at sea more inclusive to women seafarers. But now that we have a better understanding of what the pain points are, we can work together to address them,” says Su Yin Anand, Head of Shipping at South32 and Co-Chair of the All Aboard Alliance, adding "We do not want them to leave their careers at sea because we need them and we need many more."
Qualitative study
The qualitative study covers such a wide spectrum of the industry and looks broadly at the problems that face women working at sea. On average, women at sea amount to less than 2% of the total seafarer population.
“These issues must be addressed. First of all, because it is the right thing to do," says Mikael Skov, Co-Chair of the All Aboard Alliance, and CEO of Tanker Operator, Hafnia, which in 2022 launched its Maritime Cultural Lab aboard four of its vessels, with crew matrixes consisting of at least 50% women to learn more about the cultural nuances and impact of a more diverse crew.
Need for advanced skills
Mikael Skov adds, "Secondly, because the maritime industry is changing rapidly, and more advanced skills are needed ones, which require us to holistically look at the full talent pipeline to identify the best candidates for the maritime sector to thrive and grow."
It is important to note that many of the key pain points identified in this study such as bullying and harassment, feelings of isolation, and long contracts keeping seafarers from their families for many months are also considered pain points for many male colleagues.
Input for trial vessels
The interviews were conducted as the first part of a pilot project conducted by the All Aboard Alliance
The interviews were conducted as the first part of a pilot project conducted by the All Aboard Alliance.
The study covers women of all ranks, from captains to deckhands, and in many types of ships, with most of the women interviewed being from Asia (63%) and Europe (25%).
Adequate measures, solutions
“The study provides us with the direction we need to develop adequate measures to find solutions to each of these challenges, and none the least, to decide which of the measures to test in the pilot project later this year,” says Susanne Justesen (Ph.D.), Project Director, Human Sustainability at Global Maritime Forum and author of the report.
Susanne Justesen adds, "The maritime industry needs female seafarers, and we must work collectively to develop and test ways to make work life onboard more inclusive for everyone."
Action-research approach
In the next phase of the project, to be launched in Q4 of 2023, selected vessels from within the All Aboard Alliance with higher-than-average numbers of women officers and crew members onboard, will test the co-designed measures and solutions in an action-research approach.
The goal is to identify which of the proposed solutions are most impactful in addressing the 15 key pain points for female seafarers, and thus best will help the All Aboard Alliance in making a career at sea not just inclusive, but also attractive to more women seafarers going forward.
