29/01/2018
urges the to have more in and
BSN Network / Mumbai Date: 29/01/2018
Dr. Malini Shankar, IAS, Director General of Shipping, Chief Guest at WISTA India’s 5th anniversary, released the booklet ‘Gender Diversity’ at a function organized in Mumbai. Women's International Shipping and Trading Association International launched the book in cooperation with International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN) and Anglo-Eastern Univan Ship Management Limited.
The book addresses critical social, cultural and interpersonal issues that can obstruct productivity of a shipboard team.More than a manual, the booklet aims to sensitize junior and senior officers to the challenges women seafarers may face. From sexual harassment and bullying to negative attitudes faced from male colleagues, it addresses a wide range of challenges reported by women seafarers.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Malini Shankar, commented, “Women want equality, respect for their capability and not privileges.” Sharing her personal experiences she narrated how a traffic inspector once remarked that most road accidents happen because of women.When she confronted the officer to provide the ratio of accidents due to women vs men as drivers, the officer was left speechless.
Sharing another incident of bias against women, she said,“ A woman Engineer was denied shipboard training citing the reason that it was not mandatory for women engineers.” However, this woman was provided shipboard training after Dr. Malini Shankar’s forceful intervention.
She concluded with remark that having a Mandatory course on Gender diversity for just ticking a box or a check list will not be useful. Instead it will require a lot of insight and structuring to make it more practical.
Ms. Despina Panayiotou Theodossiou, President, WISTA International, said, “WISTA India was founded in Mumbai in December 2012 – and it is going strong today. Tonight, we celebrate this wonderful accomplishment, as we look back upon the 5 years of the association, which are rich and dynamic. Many meetings, exemplary members, great initiatives, all these achievements and even more down the road, we are here today taking this opportunity not only to look back but also to look ahead. As the new President of WISTA International, I am incredibly proud of all our successes, our expansion globally but also the visibility we have gained in the shipping industry. We have created together, a dynamic global network supporting women in the maritime industry and our aim is to continuously highlight our important role. However, if women are to be fully included in the maritime industry, we should create a community of experienced women participating in various areas within our sector. What I see as part of our future, is WISTA becoming involved in the discussion on technology and innovation.
She complimented Ms. Sanjam Sahi Gupta, President, WISTA India, as a shining example of professional, positive, efficient leader in the maritime industry who was also kind and humble.
Capt Anoop Sharma, Chairman, Shipping Corporation of India, stated that SCI was always contributing to women’s welfare adding that Captain Radhika Mc Menon, was the first woman captain from SCI who was recently honoured by the President of India. He further added that 25 % of SCI directors are women and soon the SCI will declare the first woman Pilot.
Anil Singh, the brand ambassador of WISTA India, said vehemently that all organisations should come forward in support of women and give them opportunities for growth. He narrated incidents of how DPWorld whole heartedly supported its women staff in education and finance. He stressed on companies supporting the cause of gender diversity and WISTA without expecting anything in turn but gender diversity automatically reaps rewards.
Ms. Sanjam Gupta Sahi , President, WISTA India, Exco Member WISTA International, Executive Board Member World Maritime University, since 2016, informed the audience of working on ‘Diversity Charter’ with Natalie Shaw, Director Employment Affairs, International Chamber of Shipping and Karin Orsel, past President, WISTA International, as well as Trustee ISWAN.
She added the Seafarers handbook that was released was the first step, while the second one was to conduct Course on Gender Diversity adding, “It will be a huge milestone if we have this as a mandatory course.” She urged the industry to pledge support for more women in shore positions, especially management positions.
She concluded by saying, “Over the past 40 years, the employment of women in our industry has increased, both ashore and afloat, as has the number of women in top management and board positions. But there is still a long way to go in many regions of the world, and there is plenty of room for growth and opportunity. Let’s work together to cultivate women as candidates for inclusion everywhere in the best industry in the world!”
The WISTA members felicitated women for their great contribution and leadership including Mrs. H K Joshi, SCI, the first woman director (Finance), Ms. Sangeeta Sharma, for being the first woman director of liner services of a Public Sector Organization and Mrs. Saleha Shaikh Zubair, the MUI-WW Women’s Wing for contribution towards welfare of seafarers families.
Also felicitated on the occasion for lending their unwavering support to WISTA were: AMTOI President Mr. Nailesh Gandhi; MANSA President, Capt. Vivek Singh Anand; FFFAI Mr. Om Prakash Aggarwal; SP Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJIMR) Dr. [Mrs] Tulsi Jayakumar, Narottam Morarjee Institute of Shipping Capt Manmohan Saggi. IWSF Ms. Suneeti Bala and Shaarvani Mishra; ISWAN Mr. Chirag Bahri, Medha Mukherjee, Founder and CEO, Feminista and Capt. S.S. Sahi, MD Sitara Shipping.
Ms. Vinita Venkatesh who heads WISTA India South India chapter played a major role in making the event a success. Ms. Sanndhya Pillai WISTA India member was thanked for her efforts in planning the event. The event was compared by Sushmita Shukla, the WISTA India Personality of the Year 2017. Vote of Thanks was given by Ms. Sumi Sahi
A very interactive panel discussion on “Digital Disruption in Shipping: What happens Next?”was held as part of the celebrations, which had enthusiastic response from audience.
In 2020, there will be 4 billion connected people on the planet. They will be plugging into more than 25 billion apps and intelligent systems producing an eye watering 50 trillion GB of data. By next year, it is estimated that 70% of traffic on the internet will be video.
Clearly, this is not something the maritime industry can ignore – and in many ways shipping is perfect for digitalisation and disruption: it’s international, has a common language and a plethora of critical functions and processes that are time-consuming and labour intensive. Add to that a tech-savvy workforce increasingly expecting the same constant connectivity on board that they get at home and the way we are headed is obvious.
New, digital entrants are transforming traditional relationships in the freight and logistics business. Their offerings, built on big data, cloud and connected platform technologies, give customers the seamless experience they already enjoy as consumers: Ease of access, price transparency, swift, integrated service.
The distinguished panelists were Ms Liji Nowal, Managing Director, ODeX India Solutions Pvt Ltd; Ms Angie Hartmann, Starbulk [Greece]; Ms Angie Hartmann, Starbulk [Greece]; Ms Vinita Venkatesh, Director Krishnapatnam Port Container Terminal and Managing Director, Mr Vivek Kele Director, Teamglobal; Capt. Vivek Singh Anand, Director; Mr. Vardharajan, Transworld, Executive Director and CEO, Shreyas Relay Systems; Mr Raghavandra Prasad, CEO, Winfin Technologies
Salient points discussed by the panelists included: Ground breaking collaborations for gaining control on supply chains, Potential of digital innovation: How to embrace and survive? How early adopters are making the first moves to take advantage of this; How business models will change and evolve?
The WISTA members were highly jubilant. The most touching gesture was, men giving nonstop applaud for WISTA members’ contribution to the industry.
