Women in Maritime Event at the International Maritime Organisation

 by Honor G

On Friday 17th May I was lucky enough to go to an event to celebrate the role of women within the maritime industry, organised by the International Maritime Organisation, which is an outpost of the UN. I was invited through my volunteering work with Tall Ships Youth Trust, and they arranged for a group of seven young women (all ageing from 16 to 24) to travel to London to attend the event. 

I arrived in London at just before 11 o’clock, and met the TSYT girls with whom I was to spend the day. We were then treated to a tour of the building itself, which spans many floors, including an expansive library and lots and lots of ship models, all gifts from the 176 member states of the IMO, which include many land-locked countries like Switzerland. On the way, we bumped into numerous ambassadors from the member states to talk about TSYT and our role in the symposium later in the day, which took a lot of getting used to, but had the added benefit of bettering my networking skills! One of my favourite parts of the tour was the chandelier which hangs down from the second floor, which was made by the famous British company, Scabetti. The lantern is about three thousand anchors, all arranged in a map of the world, which can only be seen as you walk around it and is beautiful to look at. 

Just after lunch (most of us had fish and chips on the terrace - with lovely views of the Thames and Parliament), we sat down to have a private meeting with Heike Deggim, who is the Director of the Marine Environment Division at the IMO. She briefly explained her career as a marine engineer to us, and outlined her experiences of the thirty years she’s been working at the IMO. She then let us ask her some questions, and we were all very interested to hear her opinions on policing environmental resolutions when at sea, automated ships and their risks, among many others. 

The main event of the day started at 14:30, with a symposium titled “Safe Horizons: Women Shaping the Future of Maritime Safety”. We all sat in the Main Hall (where all the official delegate meetings take place - think of the classic UN auditorium), which can fit just under 800 people, to listen to a panel of speakers debate questions about how the role of women within maritime safety can be improved. The symposium was extremely interesting, and questions were opened up to the floor, which allowed us to communicate and really engage with the subject. By the end of the day, I had thought long and hard about how the experience of women within the maritime industry can differ hugely from that of men, and listened to many arguments and opinions on how this gap can be bridged. 

Finally, I just wanted to thank TSYT (especially Kirsty!) for organising such a great day out, and Miss Thomas, for allowing me to become involved with the charity through the CAW placement program. 

Bibliography

https://www.imo.org/en/About/Events/Pages/International-Day-for-Women-in-Maritime-2024.aspx