SEXIST perceptions about competence, rampant harassment and systemic hurdles are among the key gender diversity challenges for the maritime industry, according to a report by the Global Maritime Forum.

The report is based on a study by the All Aboard Alliance, an industry group that aims to improve diversity, equity and inclusion in the maritime sector. The Alliance said that women seafarers currently account for less than 2 per cent of the maritime workforce.

In interviews with 115 women seafarers across different ranks and geographies, the most significant challenges highlighted were related to leadership and onboard culture. In particular, many women shared difficulties in achieving professional success due to an onboard culture in which women are viewed and treated as “less competent” than their male colleagues.

The women described their experiences of not being treated as “true” professionals, and said that they were forced to constantly prove their competence. For instance, one second officer with nine years of experience said that it took her longer to secure more responsibilities and to be promoted than her male colleagues.

Women seafarers also reported receiving fewer training opportunities to upgrade their skills compared with their male counterparts. When exploring possible explanations for this unequal access, some of them noted that businesses are often unwilling to invest the necessary time to help train and develop women seafarers.

Many of the issues cited by the women seafarers were closely interconnected with systemic employment challenges. For example, maritime employment practices often lack family planning options, forcing women to choose between their family and a career at sea. Employers are also often unwilling to invest in the long-term career development of women seafarers.

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The lack of flexibility due to long contracts, usually ranging from four to nine months, also served as a deterrent for women to go to sea. In a time when career planning is becoming increasingly prioritised, such contract structures can be a hindrance to attracting women seafarers and younger generations to work at sea.

Many women seafarers also reported numerous challenges regarding the social aspects of the job. They cited challenges arising from social relations on board, ranging from gossip and isolation to sexual assault and power abuse by superior officers.

In a recent survey by the Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA), 66 per cent of women seafarers reported experiencing harassment, despite anti-harassment policies being in place in 97 per cent of the companies the respondents were working at. However, a second engineer noted that “90 per cent of abuse and harassment cases are not reported (by women seafarers) for fear of losing their jobs”.

There is an urgent need to “change the culture that allows higher ranking officers to wield power and influence without repercussions”, stressed one fleet doctor.

Mikael Skov, chief executive officer of shipping company Hafnia and co-chair of the All Aboard Alliance, said that “an improvement in the welfare, workplace culture and safety of women at sea, will mean more women will be inclined to take up jobs at sea, which will benefit the maritime industry immensely”.

The All Aboard Alliance will begin a pilot phase later this year to evaluate the solutions addressing the 15 pain points identified in the report. Once feedback from this phase – which ends in late 2024 or early 2025 – has been received, the solutions will be rolled out and made available to a large number of organisations across the maritime industry.