The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), which represents over 80 percent of the world’s merchant fleet, is launching the International Women’s Day (IWD) Maritime Diversity and Inclusion Charter, created to encourage shipping companies to improve and annually review their diversity and inclusion practices.
The Charter is designed to be a customizable online tool for shipping companies. Users can choose from a variety of actions, commitments, and monitoring and reporting procedures that they are willing to undertake.
For example, companies can commit to appointing a diversity leader to provide visibility and drive key actions or to track promotion opportunities offered to monitored groups defined by age, gender or ethnicity.
The launch coincides with ICS’ IWD campaign #ThisIsWhataSeafarerLooksLike, which celebrates and highlights the many roles women play in the maritime industry, from cadet to CEO.
Karin Orsel, CEO MF Shipping Group, Chair of ICS Diversity Panel, said she was one of the few women in the maritime industry when she had joined at age 23.
She stated that the industry had made many improvements since then, but it still had a long way to go. She explained that they had developed the Maritime Diversity and Inclusion Charter as a guiding light to inspire shipping companies to do better for all their employees.
Translation by Giles Foster
