What has ocean governance done for gender inequality in the maritime so far?

Ocean governance has evolved fast, too. The rapid growth of shipping, Oil & Gas, and fisheries led to international conventions and agreements as early as the 70s. These were primarily focused on regulating the use of the world oceans, safety at sea, and the working environment aboard ship.

The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) came into force in 1974; the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) in 1978; and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), in 1982.

While these advanced many issues that seem critical for women to join the maritime, such as labour conditions, they did not create a platform to address women participation and gender equality in the sector more systematically.

In 1988, the “Integration of Women in the Maritime Sector” programme (IWMS) by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) was the first initiative tackling the issue directly. It sought to enable more women from developing countries to join the seafaring labour force through increased access to training and education.

In 1991, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) introduced a report called “Changes in shipboard environment and in the characteristics of seafarers’ employment” as an item on the agenda of the 26th session of the Joint Maritime Commission.

The Commission then urged the ILO and the industry to revisit the overall working environment and employment conditions aboard ship, and to reconsider career paths and enhanced training in line with the innovations and technology enhancements taking place on ships.

After this initial impulse, it took another decade for the issue of women participation to receive some interest from the sector.

In the early 2000s, through IMO’s “Programme for the Integration of Women in the Maritime Sector” six regional associations (WIMA) were created across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Pacific Islands (2003).

On the regulatory front, it was only in 2006 that the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) was established by the ILO. The MLC was the first, all-encompassing document covering most aspects of life at sea, including the roles, responsibilities, rights, and obligations of various stakeholders in relation to the employment of seafarers.

The MLC has become the maritime labour “constitution”. Its goal is to set a standard baseline to improve the overall employment and working conditions of seafarers. As such, it was a step towards creating better conditions for more women to enter the sector.

In 2008, the first Conference on Empowerment of Women in the Maritime World was held at the World Maritime University. With a growing number of female students enrolling at the WMU, the movement for greater gender parity started to gain momentum throughout the industry.

In 2013, the MLC from 2006 came into force as binding in international law. The same year, the IMO adopted key resolutions and amendments on a mandatory audit scheme – a fundamental tool to assess Member States’ compliance with national and international regulations at sea, including health, safety and labour laws.

In 2019, 28 years after issues related to working environment and employment conditions aboard ship were formally tabled as a major concern for seafarers – the IMO increased its efforts against unlawful practices through a resolution to "Prevent the Fraudulent Registration and Fraudulent Registries of Ships".

Aimed at further detecting and reducing the number of Flag of Convenience vessels and uncompliant ship owners and eradicating irregularities and exploitative practices in the operation and management of ships and crews, this belated resolution has the potential to benefit all seafarers – especially women as a more vulnerable group – but only if and when it translates into a binding international regulation with an effective enforcement mechanism.

In parallel to voluntary standards and international regulations contributing to a more enabling environment for women participation, the last five to ten years have seen a noticeable increase in the number of initiatives and organisations – civil society groups, associations, companies, educational institutions, research and consulting firms – committed to the issue or women in the maritime.

These entities focus on raising awareness, improving access to education and training, building institutional capacities, improving leadership, offering individual support to women seafarers, helping companies improve policies and practice, and on increasing the visibility and appeal of the maritime sector for women.

In summary, it seems fair to say that while ocean and maritime governance has established important foundations for safety at sea and employment conditions, decades of debates on gender equality have yet to improve participation, safety and equal opportunities for women in seafaring professions.

Despite growing interest from some progressive maritime actors, inequality, exclusion, bias and discrimination continue to be deeply rooted and tolerated in the sector. Countless seafarers – women but, interestingly, also men - experience these shortcomings on a regular basis. When the address by IMO’s president on the Day of the Seafarer 2022 fails to highlight gender inequality as a challenge for the future of the maritime industry, it seems that we have reasons to be concerned.

Where does this inertia come from? Does the maritime sector simply face the typical challenge of global governance frameworks which lack monitoring and enforcement power? Or are there also more specific challenges that are rooted in the sector itself? **