AS WE celebrate Day of the Seafarer, I extend appreciation and admiration for the brave men and women who navigate the vast seas/oceans, connecting continents and driving global trade while upholding the principles of MARPOL. This year’s theme: “MARPOL at 50 – Our commitment goes on”, with the focus on seafarers, MARPOL, and the marine environment - is timely as Jamaica strives for an
improved maritime space. 

The dedication, resilience, and unwavering commitment of our seafarers and the maritime industry are truly commendable.

On this day - the 25th of June - we recognise the importance of seafarers, both here in Jamaica and around the globe. Seafaring is a challenging but rewarding career and the world owes our
seafarers a great deal of thanks and respect – today and every day. Without seafarers there would be no shipping and without shipping world trade would be unable to function.
As an island State, Jamaica is all too aware of the importance of ships in bringing us food, goods, energy supplies and to transport passengers safely.

FOR GENDER equality in maritime to be realised, networking must move beyond gathering contacts and sharing experiences and strategies.

That was the message of Deputy Director General of the Maritime Authority of Jamaica (MAJ), Claudia Grant, at a recent event observing International Day for Women in Maritime under the theme ‘Mobilising networks for gender equality’.

Grant said the mobilisation of networks is important to drive desired change and not simply “knock at the door or build stamina to persevere and endure”, adding, “There is the need for strategic partnerships with industry stakeholders as well as civil society, which will help to effect the policy changes needed; there is the need to identify, highlight and celebrate women’s achievements in the sector.”

THE MARITIME Authority of Jamaica (MAJ) hosted an event to showcase the contributions of women to the sector on International Day for Women in Maritime on Thursday, May 18.

The event’s keynote speaker, Pat Francis, chair of Jamaica’s Trade Facilitation Task Force, said while statistics show women are under-represented in the maritime industry, particularly in seafaring roles – where they are only 1.2 per cent of global seafaring workforce – there has been a growing push to increase gender diversity and inclusion in recent years, which has resulted in an increase in the number of women in the workforce since 2015.

Jamaica underscored the importance of being at the heart of international maritime regulation by holding a reception in London last Thursday to launch its campaign for re-election to Category C of the Council of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for the 2024-25 biennium.