Merchant navy jobs for female
Merchant navy jobs for female: Young females willing to join merchant navy with a dream to sail on seas, to don the white uniform, ready to face hardship to fulfil their dreams, to explore different countries to lead a life of their choice, the opportunities for them lies ahead.
Seafarer job is not easy and a seafarer must always remain ready to face challenges on sea.
Hard work with proper dedication & commitment is a pre-requisite.
Unlike other profession where at the end of the day, one can spend their time with theirs’s family, here seafarer can only meet their family once the contract is finished which can last up to 6-9 months.
Earlier merchant navy was considered as male dominated industry but now time has changed even women are joining shipping and working as equal as males. Recent IMO data says that worldwide 2% women contribute to the marine industry and about 1% contribution is from India. Commercial shipping companies prefers females over males.
The International Women Seafarer’s Foundation (IWSF)( 2017) was founded in 2017 to create employment for women and to advice young women willing to become seafarers.
Captain Radhika Menon, R.Nilofer have already laid the foundation and made roadmap for young women willing to lead seafarer life.
The Maritime Day, 2019 theme was based as “Empowering women in Maritime Community” It emphasis on the importance of gender equality and also focuses on the important contributions which women made worldwide in the maritime sector.
DG Shipping, focuses on strategies to increase the participation of women seafarers in maritime industry, encouraging women to join the maritime institutes and providing training.
The Maritime Training Trust (MTT) under DGS provides scholarships to Indian Women Seafarers to provide financial aid. The DGS also recommends breaks due to maternity breaks and assist them with shore based options examples ship operators/managers/recruiters etc.
THE ROAD AHEAD
The scope for women in shipping is tremendous, the right exposure certainly will be rewarding. The future for women in shipping is very bright.
The opportunities not lies off-shore jobs but also on shore. Women can join as a ship broker, ship charterer, ship operator, port agent and port department, naval Architecture etc.
Organizations such as International Women Seafarers Foundation (IWSF) and Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA) encourage women to prepare for sea life and any problem they may encounter.
Merchant navy is an ocean of opportunities and a promising career for young women.
Contents
Can girls join Merchant Navy? “YES” certainly girls can join merchant navy.
There are 3 departments:
Engine department
Deck department
Galley or Catering department
There are two categories of jobs in Deck and Engine department:
Officer rank
Crew or Non-officer rank
Considering work culture ,merchant navy is tough job, women are recommended to opt for Officer rank. Crew ranks are not preferable for girls as crew needs to do lot of hard work, women can join as a crew and later after completing required sea time can go for exams in India or in foreign nations.
Officer categories:
Candidates can join as a Deck Cadet which is the trainee rank in the Deck Department. After finishing required sea time and clearing MMD exams, candidates can reach to the top level i.e. Captain of the ship.
Engine Department
Working in engine department is slightly tough as compare to the Deck Department. However, if a candidate passion is to work with machines and technology, the Engine department in the Merchant Navy is best for them.
Candidates joins the Engine department as Trainee Marine Engineer(TME). TME can become the ship’s Chief Engineer after finishing required sea time and clearing MMD exams. Chief engineer has an advantage of becoming marine superintendent and can work onshore.
Electro technical officer (ETO)
Galley/Catering Department
There is no officer category in the catering department , if girls wish to join the catering department, they can approach Cruise /Passenger companies as their are lot of opportunity for them.
International Maritime Organization & Ministry of Shipping of India are focusing to increase the participation of women seafarers ,encouraging women to join shipping.
Companies like Anglo Eastern, Mearsk lines,Synergy Maritime, Executive Ship Management, Fleet Management Limited, etc are encouraging females to join the industry.
Safety and Privacy for Girls on ships
Safety of women on ships is a great concern among majority of people.
All Men/Women officers are provided with separate cabins with attached bathrooms on ships. Thus, there is no safety or privacy issues for girls in Merchant Navy.
All crew are highly professional and they give lot of respect to their colleague and there is almost no chance of safety breach of female working onboard.
Related Read : How to join Merchant navy as Deck Cadet
Related Read : Salary in Merchant Navy
