Celebrating the IMO International Day for Women in Maritime
Today on May 18th, BW Epic Kosan celebrates the IMO International Day for Women in Maritime and shines the spotlight on the women at BWEK, both on shore and at sea.
The day celebrates women in the industry and aims to promote the recruitment, retention and sustained employment of women in the maritime sector, raise the profile of women in maritime, strengthen IMO's commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5 (gender equality) and support work to address the current gender imbalance in maritime.
At BW Epic Kosan, we invest in our people and view diversity as something extending beyond just gender, nationality and age. With 27 nationalities currently working in the company, we consider that providing equal opportunities is a must to remain an attractive employer. At the same time, we recognise industry challenges in relation to attracting female talent due to the nature of maritime trade. These include occupational cultural barriers, lack of awareness and understanding of how to work with female seafarers onboard, and the slow development of effective policies and strategies aimed at recruiting and retaining female seafarers. To address these challenges, we have embarked on a five-year plan to increase the number of employed female seafarers – the plan includes visits to maritime colleges and setting clear targets on the number of female seafarers we must recruit and holding everyone accountable for these targets.
We thank all colleagues, men and women, at sea and onshore, for their dedication and hard work to deliver energy the world needs, safely and sustainably. However, to commemorate this year’s International Day for Women in Maritime, we shine the spotlight on our female cadets at sea with this video.
Together, we will continue to strengthen our workplace culture and foster an environment where all employees are treated fairly and with respect.