On Thursday 18 May, Trinity House was proud to co-host the ‘Empowering Women in Maritime’ event at our London headquarters to mark the IMO’s International Day for Women in Maritime; the event was also presented by Maritime UK, Wista UK and OCIMF.

Following a keynote speech from Maritime Minister Baroness Vere of Norbiton, a distinguished panel shared their experiences and ambitions for the maritime sector.

The panel discussion—‘Empowering Women in Maritime: Unlocking Opportunities and Driving Change’—brought together distinguished individuals from commercial, charity and government sectors.

The panellists Deborah Layde (The Seafarers Charity), Guy Platten (International Chamber of Shipping), Holly Midwinter-Porter (Mandara Capital), Captain Karen Davis (OCIMF), Monica Kohli (WISTA UK) and Shireen Ali-Khan (Women in Transport), moderated by Sue Terpilowski OBE (Image Line) openly shared lessons from their personal experiences and discussed strategies to increase diversity and inclusion within organisations.

We heard that globally women form only around 2% of the maritime workforce. However, it was great to hear from many companies represented at the event that are already taking practical action to make the change.

A career in maritime can take many forms; as well as the more visible elements of seafaring (such as working on the bridge or the deck), this includes maintaining an engine aboard a ship, drawing up contracts, managing complex high value projects, leading teams afloat and ashore and everything in between.

At Trinity House we recognise that a potential career in maritime might not always be visible to young women as they begin to plan for their future beyond full time education. We are committed to working with partner organisations and schools to bring these many and varied opportunities to life, and to be part of the change.

There is no shortage of great resources for young women and men from all backgrounds to find out about careers in maritime and STEM; here are just a few:-

- Merchant Navy Training Board: mntb.org.uk

- Careers at Sea (MNTB): careersatsea.org

- Maritime UK: maritimeuk.org/careers

- Maritime Skills Alliance: maritimeskills.org

Trinity House’s Merchant Navy Scholarship Scheme is another great avenue for young people to take up a career in the Merchant Navy: www.trinityhouse.co.uk/supporting-seafarers/merchant-navy-scholarship-scheme



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Left to right: Deborah Layde (The Seafarers Charity), Monica Kohli (WISTA UK), Holly Midwinter-Porter (Mandara Capital), Guy Platten (International Chamber of Shipping), Sue Terpilowski OBE (WISTA International), Shireen Ali-Khan (Women in Transport) and Captain Karen Davis (OCIMF)