Shipping - Women still a minority in seafaring
Female seafarers are still a minority in Germany. At the end of September this year, they accounted for around 6.7 percent of the 7,900 or so employees in merchant shipping and deep-sea fishing who are subject to pension insurance contributions.
This is according to figures from Knappschaft-Bahn-See. Over the past four years, the proportion of women in the shipping industry has fluctuated between 5.4 and 5.9 percent at the end of each year. There is no discernible trend towards an increase or decrease during this period.
The situation is different for women who work in the commercial or service sector of seafaring - for example in the kitchen or as a waitress: according to the data, most female crew members still work in this area. Nevertheless, the proportion of women in this area has fallen by almost ten percentage points since 2019 to 42.5% this year. "The decrease in the area of commercial personnel means an increase in the proportion of female employees in the area of more highly qualified maritime personnel," says Knappschaft-Bahn-See.
In the higher ranks, such as captains and officers, the proportion of women this year, as in previous years, was below that of women in seafaring as a whole. In 2023, it amounted to 3.8 percent, while in the four previous years it fluctuated between 2.6 and 3.2 percent.
The proportion of women was highest in the younger age groups in each of the five years. In 2023, it was 10.3% for both 18 to 20-year-olds and 26 to 30-year-olds. Among 21 to 25-year-olds, it was 13.1%, almost twice as high as the proportion of women across all age groups.
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The World Shipping Organization has identified the underrepresentation of women in the maritime industry as a global issue, with Germany being no exception. Despite the fluctuations in the proportion of women in German shipping over the past four years, they continue to represent a small percentage of the workforce. In Hamburg, a major port city in Germany, efforts are being made to encourage more women to pursue careers in shipping, acknowledging the importance of gender diversity in this traditionally male-dominated field.
Source: www.stern.de
