“Real action” — not “femme-washing” — is needed to promote women in the shipping industry, Wista International president Elpi Petraki says.
Petraki’s message came from the sidelines of the annual general meeting of the Women in Shipping & Trading Association, or Wista, in Limassol, Cyprus, as the organisation celebrated its 50th anniversary.
Petraki told TradeWinds: “I want to see more women in high-level positions in companies, and not just for the numbers but for the input they have to bring in — so I don’t want to see femme-washing, I want real action.
“I don’t mind if that comes slowly. I want small steps, I hope they can be big, but they need to be solid.
“We don’t want anyone to feel threatened. We don’t want anyone to feel that we compete.”
She said women have a stake in the future and should be included in the industry’s transformation as it decarbonises, modernises and trains tomorrow’s seafarers.
She said positive change for women would be felt most acutely in the private sector.
That is why Wista has extended its membership model to include corporate and associate members, as well as individual memberships.
Diversity, equity and inclusion are becoming more important to shipping companies, especially those obliged to report on environmental, social and governance performance.
“I have many big private companies reaching out to me [to] discuss how they can make that change happen,” Petraki said.
“We will try to accommodate that interest because I think the important thing is to have the companies make the changes.”
This demand is coming from all over the world, she added.
“We did a very good job in the past 50 years of raising the subject, and now the industry and society are ready to do something about it,” Petraki said.
“There’s been a struggle because there’s a lot of talk but at the end of the day we see and you see that although we have the will, sometimes the result is not there.
“So the good thing is that companies are trying to realise what is going wrong and how can they support, become more inclusive and empower women.”
This work will also help companies identify why women often do not rise through an organisation and why some women drop out of shipping careers entirely.
“Maybe [this is] because they have to struggle more than the men to rise in the management levels — we don’t know that, but they’re trying to understand, so this is very important for us,” Petraki said.
Shipping has a strong base of female talent, experience and competence, she said.
But Petraki argues women do not always have access to the conversations and bodies that shape the industry.
Wista International advocates for women to be included in high-level discussions at, among others, the European Union, the International Maritime Organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the International Chamber of Shipping.
Wista continues to grow by adding new chapters or national Wista associations (NWAs).
New NWAs were added this year in Honduras, Costa Rica and China.
This brings the total to 62 countries with 5,000 members.
This is not just for better coverage of topics around diversity, equity and inclusion, but for industry matters too, she noted.
Every geographic region is represented on Wista International’s board, accommodating the different concerns of women in shipping worldwide.
Wista is also working to ensure the survival of its chapters — or national Wista associations, as they are known — in countries where there may be unrest, drastic economic changes, or without enough individual members to be sustainable.
“I’m very proud that our presidents agreed to have an equity fund. That fund will be available for countries that struggle through various uncertainties,” Petraki said.
The fund, which will be funded using cash from paid memberships, means that chapters will be around to celebrate many Wista birthdays to come.
Elpi Petraki wants to call on the industry to contribute to the IMO-Wista Women in Maritime survey, which is live now.
The survey of private companies runs alongside another survey for IMO member states and is conducted every three years.
The project aims to gather information on how many women work in all industry sectors — at sea and ashore — in what numbers and positions.
“It is for private companies, maritime institutions, academies or universities, and seafarers through their companies,” she said.
“It’s not a difficult questionnaire. It will take 15 to 20 minutes to complete. But we want companies to make the effort,” Petraki said.
“It is not a judgment thing. We just want to find out where we are, everywhere around the world.”
Any company or organisation with at least 50% focus on maritime is invited to participate in the survey, including technology companies, classification societies, and the trade media. “Even TradeWinds,” she added.
More information on how to participate in the industry survey can be found here.
