UK Women in Maritime Charter Taskforce launched

BABATUNDE SCOTT

Worried by the 2% of the UK’s current maritime workforce that are women, the new Chief Executive of the Associated British Ports, Mr Henrik Pedersen has said it’s a situation that simply must change.

He was speaking at the launch of the new Women in Maritime Taskforce Charter, an initiative to encourage more women to take up roles in the industry, and one which more than 60 companies across shipping, ports, engineering and naval forces have already pledged to support.

“We are failing to fully harness the talents of 50% of the population. It doesn’t make sense and there is a dire need to change this,” said Pedersen. He noted that ABP’s own workforce is 15% women, and the group is proactively encouraging more women to apply. For him, he said, it’s personal – he reflected on the “unreasonable obstacles” his wife has had to overcome in her career and, as the father of two daughters, “I want them to have equal opportunities in their work life.”

At the same time, diversity is good for business, he added. ABP’s focus on diversity was delivering a much stronger company, “with different voices listened to”.

Established by Maritime UK, the taskforce has identified Recruitment, Progression, Retention and Total Package as key areas of focus. There are plans for workshops on unconscious bias, for sharing best practice on the role of job description language in attracting women applicants, and for sharing of HR personnel between companies.

The workforce should reflect the population of the UK, but there are often barriers to diversity, said UK Shipping Minister Nusrat Ghani. “The creation of the charter means organisations can now move forward from a ‘show of intent’ to take practical steps to achieve gender balance,” she said. “It is my greatest wish to see the maritime sector shining a beacon on equality and I look forward to the move from intent to action. There is nothing to hide behind now.”

Julie Lithgow, director of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, said: “I joined this (taskforce) team because I was prepared to be the most cynical person in the room.” However, she said, at every step of the journey, the team had met with increasing enthusiasm. “We have learned from other sectors and we consulted the industry on our proposals. We hope the charter strikes the right balance between challenge and support.”