LEAD STORY
Why Diversity Matters
Respect & Support for our female seafarers
W
allem is a place where both men and women can achieve their highest aspirations. Respect and support for all our seafarers is integral to Wallem’s strong safety culture. Having seafarers who feel engaged and positive is essential to boost morale onboard, and ensure that the focus is on operational excellence and safety.
An industry issue Women make up a mere 2% of the global maritime workforce. It is clear that more needs to be done to recruit and welcome women into the industry. A gender diverse workforce and an inclusive culture is not only the right thing to do but it also increases engagement, reduces turnover and benefits the bottom line. Encouraging and supporting more women into the shipping industry has to come at government level and from support from shipping organisations such as the IMO. They need to work together with maritime colleges and companies to encourage more women into the industry. Faced with an ageing workforce and with shipping not attracting the younger generations as it once did, there is an industry shortage of good quality recruits. Like most TRUE NORTH THE WAY FORWARD
shipping companies, Wallem is faced with the challenge of actively trying to encourage more young people into shipping; both male and female. The fact is that few women consider shipping as a career option because there is a lack of information and support for women on career opportunities in the maritime field. There is a general lack of forums and workshops to exchange ideas and views about the maritime sector and how to ensure women can be part of the future seafarer workforce. There is also a lack of a support network as a whole for women in the maritime industry – at company, organisation and government level. At Wallem, we are committed to the lifelong mentoring of our all seafarers, with structured capability building to transition maritime professionals from sea to shore positions. In fact, our shore staff is made up in good part of ex-Wallem seafarers.
