Many of the almost 200 members and guests of the Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (Wista UK) assembled in the sun on the International Maritime Organization’s roof terrace looked like they were already following guest speaker Commodore Mel Robinson’s life model.
On the brink of a career change, the uniformed Royal Navy commander of the maritime reserves told the assembled throng how she had come up with what she termed “a thriving mechanism for life — “Be gorgeous, shine brightly, love life”.
The mantra appeared to be an instant crowd-pleaser for an audience that was fired up by an inspiring address from the Minister of State at the UK’s Department of Business and Trade Nusrat Ghani.
Many women in maritime still find their paths to advancement restricted, Ghani said.
“Women have to play a central role in helping achieve our maritime goals,” she said,
“Diversifying this industry doesn’t just make moral sense it is also an economic no-brainer too.”
Ghani, a previous UK shipping minister, said increasing the number of women in the sector is pivotal to the government’s Maritime 2050 strategy, as is getting men to understand this.
She asked the men present to take a moment to reflect on their position of authority and to make sure they had not taken that role away from a woman.
But Ghani also said women need to be more demanding, ask for those promotions and insist on advancement.
The evening saw awards too.
The long-serving director of maritime at the UK’s Department for Transport Petra Wilkinson — who described herself as passionate about the maritime sector — scooped the Wista Female Personality of the Year award.
An absent but strong Wista supporter IMO secretary general Kitack Lim took the award for male personality.
It was then only Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Aviation, Maritime and Security Baroness Charlotte Vere of Norbiton standing between the rapidly warming crowd and their refreshments.
But the ebullient shipping minister — who was given the shipping brief just nine months ago — held their attention, bounding onto the stage fresh from a sprint into the building and cheekily thanking Ghani as her “warm-up act” on the way.
Vere kept up the pace, warning women against imposter syndrome and saying she had seen far too many male imposters to contemplate that it is a female trait. “Sorry guys,” she added with a smile.
“It is not just about getting more women to the top table it is about giving the confidence to know that they absolutely belong there,” she said.
‘Right people around the table’
Vere shared that she had just chaired the first meeting of the UK’s new Maritime Council, which was set up to deliver on the Maritime 2050 strategy, but said it had “almost no women on it”. She challenged those enjoying the evening to take their seats there over the next five years.
Speaking to TradeWinds later she said Maritime 2050 was written over four years ago and the council now needs to make sure it is prioritising the right things for maritime today.
She said the council has the “right people around the table” and now needs an action plan.
Vere said decarbonisation was one of the key issues to be addressed. “We want to be ambitious,” she said. But pointed out that whereas the pathway is clear for other hard-to-abate sectors like aviation it is less so for maritime.
