New ‘Women in Maritime’ taskforce announced
The 2018 London Boat Show, powered by British Marine, hosted another successful Women in the Marine Industry networking event. And now this initiative will become part of something much bigger, following the announcement by Maritime UK of a new Taskforce to address fairness, equality and inclusion within the maritime sector. British Marine is looking forward to playing its part in this important work, with Chief Officer of Membership and Services, Sarah Dhanda, being one of the appointments to the Taskforce.
The Taskforce brings together leaders from across the maritime sector and the UK Government to identify practical steps to increase the number of women in maritime, and crucially within senior roles across its shipping, ports, marine and business services industries. Achieving a balanced workforce at all levels in the maritime sector will undoubtedly improve culture, behaviour, outcomes, profitability and productivity. It forms the maritime sector’s first response to the challenge set by the then Maritime Minister Rt Hon John Hayes MP, who called for the industry to address gender imbalance in the sector.
The Taskforce will make a series of recommendations and utilise best practice from other sectors that have taken similar action.
Sue Terpilowski, President of the Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association UK (WISTA UK) and Chair of the Taskforce, said: “The need for fairness, equality and inclusion is clearer than ever and the maritime sector must em-brace diversity because it’s the right thing to do. Equally there is a strong business case for action. The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) has estimated that equalising the role of men and women in the labour market could in-crease GDP by 10% by 2030. There are women of all ages and abilities wanting to be a part of our maritime future and we must make sure we don’t waste any more time in not addressing this issue.”
David Dingle, Chair of Maritime UK, said: “I welcome this new Taskforce and look forward to receiving its recommendations. The entire maritime sector needs to do much more to address gender imbalance. Just looking at the Merchant Navy, the ITF (the Transport Workers Federation) estimates that women make up only 2% of the world’s maritime workforce, and those figures are replicated here in the UK too. Of the 14,350 officers in our country, only 3% are women. Only 4% of our technical officers are women. Of the 6,500 engine officers, only 1% are women. It means that talented women could be missing out on careers in which they could best use those talents. Maritime UK will be leading by example, too, and urging members to nominate women leaders to sit on the Board.”
Lilian Greenwood MP, Chair of the House of Commons Transport select committee, said: “The news that leaders from across the maritime sector are examining ways to improve the representation of women in their industry, including in senior roles, is very welcome. A plan to tackle gender inequality isn’t just ‘nice to have’, it’s essential, because right now our maritime sector is missing out on the skills and talents of outstanding women. I look forward to hearing more about the Taskforce’s conclusions and seeing practical action to sup-port a more diverse workforce.”
The Taskforce is scheduled to have its first meeting in the coming weeks, where the newly appointed Maritime Minister, Ms Nasrat Ghani MP, is expected to attend. Commenting on the Taskforce the Minister said: “I am delighted to see Maritime UK taking action to attract more women into our maritime industries, and I welcome this taskforce as an important first step. In the autumn, the Government challenged maritime leaders, businesses and colleges to find ways of increasing the number of women in the sector, and it is great to see them respond in this way. There is a fantastic wealth and breadth of career opportunities in maritime, and I am determined to see more women accessing these.”
British Marine’s Sarah Dhanda will be providing feedback from this meeting and on the Taskforce’s plans and members should keep an eye on Latest News for all the updates on this important initiative.
Details of the new Taskforce, including its membership, are available on the Maritime UK website Maritime UK was set up two years ago to be the single promotional body for the UK’s £40bn maritime industry and British Marine is a leading member of this organisation.
