Maersk launches seafarers' cadet programme for women in pact with AMET-Chennai

Global container logistics major Maersk on Friday announced the launch of the country's first seafarers' cadet programme for women in partnership with Chennai-based Academy of Maritime Education and Training.

Maersk said by 2027, it aims to increase the proportion of women among the fresh cadets to 50 per cent from a baseline of 7.6 per cent in 2021, and to achieve this ambitious target, it is creating a talent pool of women seafarers through this programme.

The company said it has partnered with AMET (Academy of Maritime Education and Training), Chennai to roll-out a cadet programme which will offer appropriate opportunities necessary for honing the technical and social skills required for the women aspiring to enter the profession.

The company, under the programme, will offer a three-year Bachelors in Nautical Science or the four-year Bachelors in Engineering degree courses to those female candidates who have completed their high school (10+2), Maersk said in a release.

By promoting women to take up these courses and ensuring that they get access to the right academics in the right environment, Maersk is truly committing itself to improve Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) in the long run, it said.

''Women are reshaping the corporate world, taking on responsibilities in almost every sector, function and role. However, the seafaring community, which has otherwise been male-dominated, has not progressed at the same pace as the mainstream corporates. This must change, and to bring about that change, it is necessary to start at the grass root level,'' said Karan Kochhar, Head of Marine HR - Asia, Maersk.

Noting that women make just 0.5 per cent of the total Indian seafarers today, he said ''this gender imbalance can be improved, if the whole industry makes efforts to provide proper career counselling to young women and their parents at the right age, facilitate the right academics, create job opportunities, ensure a safe and healthy work environment at sea and ensure fair employment in the long-term to the women.'' This programme will ensure infrastructural advancements at the facility that are suitable and desirable for residential female students, undertake cultural enhancement that takes care of a psychologically and physically safe environment and implement a vigilant administrative practice at the educational institute, it said.

Maersk will play an active role in providing constant care to the students enrolling for the programme through regular visits to the facility, one-on-one interactions with students, direct contact with Maersk representatives and several other initiatives.

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