International Maritime Organization announces women in maritime survey
The International Maritime Organization and the Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association launched a survey asking female maritime industry workers about their status during the pandemic and 2021.
By Michael McGrady, Maritime Direct Americas & Pacific Correspondent
To understand women’s role in the maritime industry, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA) announced the launch of the first-ever Women in Maritime Survey.
The survey intends to “examine the proportion and distribution of women working in the maritime sector, from support roles to executive-level positions.”
“Diversity in maritime matters,” said Kitack Lim, secretary-general of the IMO, in a press release. “Empowering women fuels thriving economies across the world spurs growth and development and benefits everyone working in the global maritime community and beyond.
Lim added: “We need solid data on female participation, as this will enable us to track and quantify our ambitions in what has traditionally been a male-dominated sector. I am pleased to invite all Member States and maritime stakeholders to take part in this important survey.”
Despina Panayiotou Theodosiou, president for WISTA International, added that “having comparable data is a key component when creating programs and proposing policies that will increase women’s participation in maritime.”
“It is an essential step forward in creating a more diverse and inclusive environment in our sector. With our global reach, we can amplify the strength of this survey to show real results and back our drive towards an inclusive maritime sector.”
