The biggest conference on earth that celebrates diversity along with sustainability was organised on November 16, 2022 in Mumbai. Sanjam Sahi Gupta, Founder of the event, welcomed the august gathering. This is the 3rd in the series of the event, with the previous two held online in 2020 and 2021. Being the biggest diversity event in maritime sector the Maritime SheEO conference saw participation by about 3600 people from over 80 countries. This year’s conference was hybrid, with a physical event in Mumbai.
The largest maritime equality conference with a theme – “Changing Leadership Paradigm,” propagates the need for leadership to support diversity, as it brings better balance to the industry. These decisions are strategically focused and business driven, because better gender balance makes companies grow, churning out the next lead of maritime CEOs. Diversity and sustainability are must for better future of the industry.
Dr. Jose Matheickal, Chief, Department of Partnerships & Projects, IMO, said the event being organised in Mumbai makes it even more special for her, as it was in this city where she made her debut into the maritime sector. She propagated the need for diversity in leadership was good for businesses, but still the path is more difficult for women to reach the helm of any business. A catalyst in this regard, is the Leadership Accelerator Programme that mentors and equips ladies with leadership skills, network building and peer support.
She said, IMO is operational in 130 countries, including the developing nations, for more than 30 years. The vision is to spread awareness among the next generation about the opportunities in the maritime sector. Following the impact of COVID, women are at the heart of every strategy focused at resilience and recovery. She underscored that the female gender has to make more sacrifices when it comes to maintaining work-life balance.
Mr. Ottar Ostnes – Director General of the Department of Maritime Policy and Coastal Development, Underlying the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries (Norway), said among all the sectors, Maritime industry is the one where attaining gender balance is most crucial, because oceans form part of our national identity, culture and economy. If we have to deliver a sustainable future into the hands of our next generation, we need to recruit the best talent, bright minds among men and women, because productivity is directly proportional to profitability of a business.
In spite of several initiatives, women only constitute 21% of the total workforce employed in the maritime sector. To further increase this ratio, the government of Norway is drafting an equality strategy, wherein recruitment of more women at the CEO level will be promoted. For promoting gender equality, organisational structure, recruitment process, attitude of the management and facilities offered at the job need to be tailored. The Norway government is participating with maritime bodies to promote diversity and this initiative is functional across the national boundaries. It takes commitment from both public and the private sector for promoting diversity.
Dr. Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry – President, World Maritime University, recalled that when she joined the university in 2015, she was the first female president. As she delivered her keynote speech, she focused on empowering women and gender equality. Over the past 100 years very little has been done for promoting gender equality. As the awareness increases, today we see more women taking positions as head of the government. In India women are making the country proud in every sector. For example, Capt. Radhika Menon is the first female captain in the Indian Navy and has also won an Award from IMO for display of unusual bravery at the sea. Ms. Sumati Morarjee is the first women in the world to head a ship owners’ association. According to a UN report, women account for only 2% of the total seafaring population. In the Republic of Congo women account for 7% of the total workforce in the maritime sector. The ratio is 75% in Ireland. Thus, women are very much underrepresented in the maritime sector. Education and training are two major tools to bring about this paradigm shift.
Shri. Amitabh Kumar, Director General of Shipping, Govt of India, shared some startling facts about women workforce in India. In the 15-49 age group only 32% of the total women population in India is employed. Till last year women workforce was just 48% and this percentage further dipped to 36% during COVID. A noticeable trend has been that when families move up from the middle class to the upper class women give up their jobs. During COVID women workforce was the first casualty when it came to layoffs. There is a clear demarcation in the salaries of men and women working in the same job, which clearly underscores that women are underpaid. In a survey conducted on employment, 70% of the respondents said men should get priority in filling job positions, and majority of those respondents were women. In the same survey less than 25% of the women raised their voice upon discrimination.
Recalling some of the milestones marked by women, he noted that in 2021, Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya flagged off an all-women crew onboard Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) vessel MT Swarna Krishna, marking the Diamond Jubilee Celebration of SCI and World Womens Day.
Sailing toward the International Day for Women in Maritime, 2022, marked on 18 May, an all-women merchant officers’ fleet set off for the high seas onboard MT Swarna Godavari from Jawahar Dweep oil terminal in Mumbai.
He highlighted the need for outreach programmes for spreading awareness on women empowerment and promoting women employment in the maritime sector. In India, as on date, there are about 3,746 women seafarers. 524 women cadets are undergoing training across various institutions in India, of which, 200 have joined this year.
Birgit M. Liodden – Founder of The Ocean Opportunity Lab, recalled that the Maritime SheEO Conference was actually planned way back in 2020, but could not materialise due to COVID. The event could finally be grounded in 2022. Every big movement was started by a single person and as people started sharing the vision it gained popularity, fanfare. She gave the examples of Mahatma Gandhi who lead the freedom struggle and Afroz Shah, a young Indian lawyer from Mumbai who became synonymous with the world’s largest beach clean-up project. She said we don’t need to be a Gandhi, Afroz or Sanjam to bring about a difference.
We need to collaborate in order to create a future which we wish to pass on to our children. We become more committed when we put our heart and soul into our work. She gave the example of Sitara Shipping, a business formed by wife and husband. Strong family values are essential to bring up girls who can evolve as women leaders. Equality for women starts from our homes and it takes the path less travelled to become Maritime SheEOs.
Taking a quick flashback into her history, Birgit said she was a school dropout and had to work on a farm. Two decades ago she joined the maritime industry and observes that this industry respects hard work. She said many businesses often complain that it is difficult to find employable women candidates in the maritime sector. Addressing this concern, the “Female Candidate Pool” was launched at the event, which also saw the release of a Diversity Handbook.
How I Took The LEAP!
As the event proceeded, Aruni Wijepala – Deputy General Manager at Hayleys Energy Services
Lanka and Zahra Al Lawati – Group Chief Audit Executive at ASYAD Group, shared their learning experiences from the LEAP programme. Summiit Cheema Sharma, CEO, Dycecorp, moderated the discussion, as she underscored that SheEO means changing the paradigms by example. Zahra said she always wanted to be close to the maritime sector as it is more exciting. Through the LEAP programme, she gained knowledge to understand challenges and value to the sector. She said, LEAP Programme gave the opportunity to learn from each other’s limitations and opportunities to change the world.
Aruni Wijepala said, oil & gas is a dynamic industry and for a women to lead the operations team is very challenging. Learning from LEAP Programme helped her to develop situational leadership skills. It helped in identifying skills and competencies of team members and empowering them to take independent decisions. Key takeaway from LEAP Programme was the development of situational leadership skills, wherein learnings can be applied to live situations. All modules taught during the programme are applicable to live scenarios. The programme helps in developing strategic acumen and digital transformation.
Action packed sessions followed one after another throughout the day at the Taj Santacruz, Mumbai, covering several contemporary topics from best diverse practices in logistics to the path to sustainability. The awards night celebrated those practicing and leading by example in delivering best practices and sustainability in the maritime sector.
As the event concluded the torch bearers of diversity departed only to return back next year with even more captivating themes, topics and discussions.
