All-female tug crew lead the way

Svitzer Caribbean Dominicana now employs an all-female crew on its 70 ton bollard pull ASD tug ‘Svitzer Monte Cristi’ operating in the ports of Rio Haina and Caucedo in the Dominican Republic.

By providing more opportunities to women facing gender equality challenges, Svitzer Caribbean Dominicana continues to lead the industry in many ways. The man behind this initiative is Svitzer Caribbean general manager Capt Dickson Rivas, who wanted to improve the diversity of the Svitzer crew in the Dominican Republic.

This initiative began two years ago when Capt Eduard Medina of Svitzer Dominicana began coaching the first group of female crews. Capt Medina showed a strong personal commitment to training the female crew, letting nothing get in his way until the company had its first female captain, Maria De Los Santos. Captain De Los Santos says her training began with basic seamanship tasks, safety awareness and knowledge, stability and navigation, among other things. “It’s a demanding education and you have to work hard, regardless of gender,” she said.

She continued: “As a woman in this line of work, you really decide yourself what obstacles you have to face. It’s all about how you face challenges and how hard you work to overcome them. The best aspect of the job is receiving positive comments from the pilot and the vessel captain on completion of a tug job. I like seeing how the crew members light up, knowing they’ve achieved what was set out – their professional pride, basically.”

Trained

Deckhand Maria Martinez says her job is not something other women cannot do. Although the work on a tug requires a considerable amount of physical strength, a trained deckhand, regardless of gender, can easily handle it she says.

Chief engineer Marysabel Moreno agrees: “I think many things that we presume need to be done with physical strength actually only require technical intelligence and the right tools. If you don’t have the right tools at hand, it is useless to have physical strength. Many men may think that women do not have the capacity to work on such a powerful tug, but it is up to our crew on the ‘Svitzer Monte Cristi’ to prove that these jobs are not gender-exclusive. With enough dedication, it is very much possible.”

The female crew all agree that women, not just in the Dominican Republic, should explore the good opportunities now offered by the shipping industry. This crew has been operating the ‘Svitzer Monte Cristi’ for the past four months and they love every aspect of their job. It has been a positive career choice for them, and the full support from their families has only inspired them even more.

For anyone coming into the industry, the advice is to listen, learn, use your common sense and develop an ability to roll with the punches. It’s not an easy job or an easy lifestyle, but the rewards outweigh the sacrifices.

Inclusive

General manager Capt Rivas said: “The goal must be to transform the industry so that these isolated stories of success coalesce into an inclusive and gender-balanced maritime industry.”

Changing times

Shipping has historically been a male-dominated industry and that tradition runs long and deep. The International Transport Workers’ Federation estimates that only two per cent of the world’s maritime workforce is made up of women seafarers – and they are employed mainly in the cruise and ferries sector. Women of officer rank on board commercial vessels are probably just a small fraction of that two per cent. This is a good reason to support the many women who are now making strides in diversifying the maritime industry.

An encouraging sign is the growing number of women receiving education and training in the maritime field and being on track for careers as marine officers. Such initiatives now require structured projects to invigorate and promote the careers for women in the industry.