Women in Maritime programme enhances PNG towage

Pacific Towing’s (PacTow) Women in Maritime programme continues to produce new officers for Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) maritime sector. The programme is not only helping remedy the problem of a workforce shortfall in the developing nation, but also reduces gender inequality in the maritime sector as it fast tracks the seafaring aspirations of young women.

The Women in Maritime programme, a partnership between PacTow, the Australian Government, Consort Express Lines and Swire Shipping, was launched in 2018. To date, 40 women have been awarded a scholarship as either a deck or engine cadet and 18 have graduated to pursue careers with PNG shipping companies.

PacTow general manager Neil Papenfus says cadets receive both theoretical and practical training during their three-year programme. The theoretical component is undertaken in-country whereas training at sea occurs both in PNG’s waters and internationally.

Cadets experience their PNG sea time on PacTow’s tug fleet which provides services in PNG and the broader region, and on the vessels of sister company Consort Express Lines.

Swire Shipping provides cadets with valuable international sea time on much larger, more sophisticated and technologically advanced vessels. Thus far, PacTow cadets have visited ports in Singapore, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand and Thailand on Swire Shipping vessels.  

Mr Papenfus says the need for PNG to train a new generation of seafaring professionals has never been more crucial. “Not only does our maritime sector currently have an estimated 30% shortfall of high-ranking officers – that is, officers of the watch and above – we are also on the brink of a surge in demand for maritime services which will potentially see this shortfall increase to greater than 50%.”

PNG is about to experience a 10-year LNG construction phase boom associated with two consecutive LNG projects. “The primary means of transport for the construction boom will be via sea and river, necessitating more vessels, and therefore more seafarers,” explains Mr Papenfus.  

“PNG simply does not have enough seafarers qualified to crew all of the vessels required and unfortunately this means shippers will have to recruit internationally which in turn, means Papua New Guineans will miss out on significant employment opportunities.”

An obvious solution to the shortage of PNG seafaring professionals is for shipping companies to introduce or expand their cadetship programmes. Mr Papenfus says these programmes should not only target men but women too.  

He acknowledges some challenges to recruiting female cadets, including safety perceptions. “Female seafarers the world over experience specific safety concerns when working at sea with predominantly male crews, one of the most serious being the risk of sexual violence. As with any other risk though, this can be mitigated,” says Mr Papenfus.

In 2020, PacTow introduced Gender Smart Safety, a programme specifically designed to maximise the workplace safety of its female employees both at sea and onshore.  

“Gender Smart Safety looks at workplace safety from the perspective of women and it involves women in every aspect of safety management, giving them decision making power over how to mitigate risk – including the risk of sexual violence – and therefore make their workplaces safer,” explains Mr Papenfus.  

In addition to Gender Smart Safety, PacTow has implemented a range of other initiatives to improve the safety of its female workforce and to position the company as an employer of choice for PNG women.  

Such initiatives include programmes to support women impacted by family and sexual violence, which include access to emergency accommodation, case management, and counselling, sexual harassment training, and leadership development training.

Mr Papenfus says part of the reason PacTow’s Women in Maritime cadetship programme has been successful at producing new officers of the watch for PNG’s maritime sector is because of the gender equality initiatives it has in place. 

“PNG needs more seafarers, and this includes female seafarers. We would struggle as a sector if we do not tap into the vast pool of talent PNG women represent.” PacTow is owned by logistics group Steamships Ltd.