WISTA HELLAS
“Women At Sea; How close we are to gender diversity on board”
Posidonia 2022
8 June 2022, Seminar Room 1A, Athens Metropolitan Expo S.A.
On Wednesday, June 8, 2022, WISTA Hellas organized a seminar about the challenges women at sea are facing.
The first WISTA Hellas seminar entitled “Women at Sea”, organized in the framework of the International Maritime Exhibition “Posidonia 2022” offered a thorough examination of the challenges women seafarers are facing, but also food for thought on how to support the woman throughout their careers.
The panel discussion moderated by Maria Kyratsoudi, Business Development Manager at ABS, was attended by: Leonidas Dimitriadis-Evgenidis, President of the Eugenides Foundation and IMO Goodwill Maritime Ambassador for Greece, Vivi Kolliopoulou, Insurance Manager, Angelicoussis Group; Capt. Michael Fotinos, Crew Manager, Diana Shipping Services; George Alexandratos, Vice President, Hellenic Chamber of Shipping; Georgia Darsaklis, Master Mariner, Olympic Shipping Management and Cees Horvers, Managing Director, Wagenborg Crew Management.
In a full room, with the participation of senior shipping executives, it was widely understood that progress towards gender equality is real, but outdated attitudes continue to obstruct fair treatment for women working at sea
The IMO Goodwill Maritime Ambassador in Greece stated that although the Sustainable Development Goal No 5 is to support gender equality at sea, it has been shown that the distance that needs to be covered until this goal is achieved is indeed long.
He stressed the need for a holistic approach to address all the challenges in shipping, which can be achieved once the “right ecosystem” is created. “It is a matter of education, training, mentoring and leadership in a world which is changing,” he said. “It’s not a matter of men and women. “If all systems are developed to be more open-minded, resilient and adaptable, it will be better for all of us.”
