25 June is the Day of the Seafarer, an annual global event coordinated by the International Maritime Organisation to recognise the unique contributions made by seafarers to international seaborne trade. ECSA, together with its members, celebrates the immense contributions made by seafarers to European shipping.
The Day of the Seafarer was established by a resolution adopted in Manila in 2010, which promotes the revised International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) which ensures an international standard of competency, safety and welfare for seafarers.
This year, the Day of the Seafarer is organised around the theme of gender equality, also driven by the slogan of the forthcoming World Maritime Day on “Empowering Women in the Maritime Community“.
The campaign hashtag is #IAmOnBoard – which can be used by the whole maritime sector to show their solidarity for gender equality in seafaring.
ECSA encourages its membership throughout Europe to support the campaign, and is working with its social partner, the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), on ways to encourage more women to join the seafaring profession.
Throughout the past year, ECSA and its membership have taken steps to make the shipping industry a more attractive and safer workplace for women and to promote equal opportunities for both women and men in the transport sector:
It adopted a growth plan for maritime jobs, growth, attractiveness and competitiveness with a particular focus on women in shipping. It has also submitted a joint proposal with the ETF to the European Commission for funding to enhance the participation of women in shipping.
‘‘Diversity is necessary for industry growth. Diversity is important not just for diversity’s sake, but because it brings in the skills that move an industry forward. Shipping is no different. However, this is a time when companies are looking into alternative ways of working, influenced by digitalisation and the age of innovation we are currently in. These present an opportunity to attract more women in the shipping industry. To recruit the talent needed, shipping needs to rebrand itself in order to be seen as: diverse, young, adaptive, digital,” said Martin Dorsman, Secretary General of ECSA.
“A strong, prosperous and socially sustainable European maritime industry would highly benefit from promoting gender diversity and equal opportunity. We need to do more to attract and retain more talent, including women, to the industry. Our national associations and shipping companies are giving particular attention to attracting women and girls to the sector in order to encourage the take-up in the EU and to eliminate bullying and harassment through a zero-tolerance environment,” added Tim Springett, Chair of ECSA’s Committee for social dialogue.
For more information about the Day of the Seafarer and campaign material for download, please visit the IMO website: http://www.imo.org/en/About/Events/dayoftheseafarer/Pages/day-of-the-seafarer-2019.aspx.
For more information, please contact:
Martin Dorsman Secretary General
Boulevard du Régent/Regentlaan 43-44,
1000 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: + 32 2 510 61 26
About ECSA
The European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA) was founded in 1965 and represents the national shipowners’ associations of the EU and Norway. The European shipowners control 40% of the global commercial fleet, contribute 147 billion to the EU GDP and provide 2.1 million Europeans with careers both on board and ashore. ECSA promotes the interests of European shipping so that the industry can best serve European and international trade in a competitive free business environment to the benefit of shippers and consumers.