What could bring more women on board? More women! BSM successfully participated in the Diversity@Sea pilot project, where four female seafarers from different nations were part of the crew on container vessel “Charlotte Schulte”. A further step towards more gender and cultural diversity.
Published on 12 Nov 2024
Shipping is one of the industries with the lowest number of women in the workforce. The imbalance is especially pronounced at sea, with women representing only 2% of seafarers. Recognising the untapped talent pool, and considering the shortage of skilled labour, BSM is actively working to increase the number of women onboard ships. BSM's Cadet Programme plays a key role in providing women with opportunities to evolve into the seafarer leaders of tomorrow. Initiatives to improve working conditions for women onboard and the initiation of a mentorship programme linking female shore staff with their counterparts at sea underscore the commitment.
The Diversity@Sea pilot is one of BSM’s initiatives to attract more women to seafaring professions. It was launched by the All Aboard Alliance, an initiative by the Global Maritime Forum. The programme aims to improve gender and cultural diversity onboard. It ran for ten months and was recently completed.
“For many years we have had women on board, but there are still not enough of them. By participating in the Diversity@Sea pilot, we have joined forces with other companies to change this,” says Eva Rodriguez, Director HR Marine at Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement.
BSM was one of twelve companies to invest in one vessel each to explore and pilot ways to make life at sea more attractive and inclusive for both men and women. Each pilot vessel had at least four female seafarers and a wide variety of nationalities on board. The participating crew received a series of questions on a regular basis, ranging from topics such as mental health, working conditions or employment challenges for female seafarers.
BSM-managed container vessel “Charlotte Schulte”, crewed by 21 seafarers from seven nations, including four women, participated in the project. The female seafarers are from the Philippines, Egypt, Russia and Ghana, ranging from experienced senior officers to junior officers and cadets.
“I am fortunate to have been part of this pilot project. I have had the opportunity to meet other women from different nationalities and cultures and to learn from their experiences as female seafarers,” said Anastasiia Panteleeva, 24 years old Junior Third Officer. Despite their diverse backgrounds, what unites these women is their desire not to be seen as exceptions or special cases on board. They are focused on their careers and expect neither favouritism nor disadvantage.
The 35-year-old Chief Officer Junie Cantoneros, from the Philippines, has witnessed significant progress for women on board since the beginning of her career. “We are seeing more women in leadership roles, and greater efforts have been made to create an inclusive work environment. Although challenges remain, the focus for equality and respect has grown much stronger, making the maritime industry more supportive and unbiased.” She is optimistic about further progress. “As opportunities for women continue to expand, and with the right training, support, and leadership, there is no reason why an all-female crew cannot be a reality at some point.”
Eva Rodriguez emphasis that there is still a long way to go in addressing gender imbalance. “You need perseverance to achieve true diversity at sea. But we will not relent, because we have talented and ambitious female seafarers who deserve encouragement and support”.
The initial results of the Diversity@Sea project were recently summarised in a preliminary report by the Maritime Global Forum. The findings identified areas such as zero tolerance for abuse and harassment, improving work-life balance and upgrading onboard facilities, such as enhanced internet and social connectivity, as essential for the future of the industry and global trade. The conclusions are the culmination of this global collaboration project involving 400 seafarers and twelve major first-mover shipping companies, generating more than 50,000 data points.
The findings will be developed into a comprehensive report and guidelines, due in early 2025. These guidelines are supposed to help maritime companies, institutions, regulators and academics shape the future work environment at sea and overcome some of the key workforce challenges faced by the industry.
BSM's HR Marine Director is optimistic, “We may uncover things we hadn’t previously considered. It’s about more than improving working conditions and closing the skills gap; it’s also essential for keeping global trade moving”. The Global Maritime Forum emphasised: at a time of mounting pressure on global supply chains, poor work conditions pose long-term risks to global trade, with seafarer labour shortages reaching a 17-year high, and some banks in August indicating they could curb lending for shipowners who put seafarers’ welfare at risk.
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