Marasi 28

MARITIME EVENTS
Albwardy Damen reinforces women
presence in the maritime sector
With the presence of HRH Princess Sarah Al Saud, the Director of maritime business development at the Arab academy
for science, technology and maritime transport, Albwardy Damen hosted WISTA UAE in Hamriyah Free Zone.
By Effat Mostafa
For the first of its kind, Albwardy
Damen arranged an event for WISTA
UAE with the presence of HRH Princess
Sarah Al Saud to emphasize the
importance of empowering Women
in the maritime sector and to further
enhance their presence in the industry.
The maritime industry has always
been known worldwide as being a
male dominated sector, thereby making
it difficult for women to join and
function easily within the industry.
International organizations are exerting
their utmost efforts to achieve
an effective balance where women
will have the same presence in the
industry as men does. Albwardy Damen
decided to host this event aiming
at encouraging more women to
work in the maritime industry.
Furthermore and throughout her
support, passion and faith in women’s
capabilities, HRH Princess Sarah
Al Saud exerts exceptional efforts to
help the industry move on from this
tradition and to help women achieve
better representation to cope with
the twenty-first century expectations.
HRH further emphasized, saying:
“The need to advance women’s
role in maritime activities has become
a subject of unprecedented
awareness and interest. I totally support
IMO’s contribution to take specific
measures, through its strategic
planning and at the operational level
of technical co-operation, to promote
the increased participation of women
in the maritime sector. I also believe
that raising the awareness about the
important role of females in the maritime
sector is a must. Here comes
the role of the media that should signify
and expose women’s distinctive
achievements in the maritime sector.”
On another note, Lars Seistrup,
the Managing Director of Albwardy
Damen highlighted the need to have
women collaboration within the industry,
saying: “We are proud to have
HRH Sarah Al Saud our shipyard and
we highly appreciate her outstanding
efforts to help the industry change
the monopolistic stereotype image
featuring men being more capable
than women. We know that the Maritime
industry has long been accepted
as a male dominated environment,
which is viewed with skepticism, all
because it is men who started it. We
believe that women participation is
vital to this industry. Thanks to the
advancement of technology, the demand
for physical power has been
turned into a growing demand for
brainpower making easier for women
to fulfill their tasks in the industry.
The maritime community should believe
that women are talented and
they can accomplish tough jobs and
we must also give them leadership
roles within the industry. This can be
achieved by equipping them with the
right education, training and skills.”
76 MAY - JUNE 2018