Commemorating International Women’s Day 2023

How we #embraceequity and improve gender diversity in shipping

Commemorating International Women's Day 2023
Encouraging gender diversity in Shipping

International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day (IWD) on March 8 is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality. Started in 1911, IWD has been celebrated for over 100 years. BW LPG celebrates the core messages behind this important day.

Women in Shipping

Shipping is historically a male dominated industry. According to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), women make up about 1.2% of the global seafarer workforce. To play our part in supporting gender diversity, BW LPG has been providing scholarships to eligible female cadets from the Indian Maritime University. The scholarship began with nine recipients, and into its third year, there are plans to offer 50 scholarships to deserving female cadets.

BW LPG also aims to provide a supportive work environment for our female seafarers. We want staff and seafarers to feel they belong and that they are free to be themselves – bringing a bit of their own birthplace, background, and culture with them; and, above all, to feel that they are safe. As part of BW Group, we rolled out a series of initiatives and policies to promote respect and belonging for colleagues at sea. We clearly highlighted our Anti-Harrassment and Anti-Bullying Guidelines. Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (DIB) Guidelines, as well as our Halting Harrassment Policy.

Commemorating IWD 2023

This International Women’s Day, as a show of support for our female seafarers, Henning Rognli, Fleet Manager, called all female seafarers onboard to wish them a good day at sea. Says Henning, “we are very supportive of bringing more diversity into the fleet and in particular hiring, developing and integrating, curious and enthusiastic women into our pool of seafarers”. He adds, “If we are able to find, develop and keep the right female seafarers, I think we will make a major leap into a safer, mature and considerate environment on board, which will benefit the whole organisation in the long term.” Onboard vessels with female crew, Captain and crew commemorated the occasion with a cake and words of support.

Commemorating International Women's Day 2023
Commemorating International Women’s Day 2023 onboard BW Gemini

 

Commemorating International Women's Day 2023
Commemorating International Women’s Day 2023 onboard BW Orion

 

At our offices globally, colleagues took time to chat and commemorate the day together.

Commemorating International Women's Day 2023
Commemorating International Women’s Day 2023 at our Oslo office

 

The Oslo office celebrated with some cupcakes in the pantry, while the Singapore office had some savory snacks and customised cookies.

Commemorating International Women’s Day 2023 at our Singapore office

 

At our Madrid office, two colleagues were made to feel extra special on the 8th of March, and a home-made cake was shared to observe the day.

Commemorating International Women’s Day 2023 at our Madrid office

 

At BW LPG, we aspire towards a Better World. There are many ways to realize our aspiration. One way we can do so, is to support gender diversity in shipping. We will play our part, one scholarship and one colleague at a time. 

 


Read More:

  • Visit our BW LPG India website here
  • Read about our scholarship initiative in India here
  • Read our Integrated Annual Report here

Keywords: Diversity, gender representation, ESG, CSR, equity, scholarship, bursary, maritime, shipping