1. WOMEN ON WATER
GİZEM ÇEVİK
MSC STUDENT
ISTANBUL TECHICAL UNIVERSITY
NOVEMBER 2010

2. SUPERSTITION AT SEA
 Since the first rudimentary vessel was placed on the ocean’s
surface, seafarers have developed and observed a stringent set
of myths and superstitions. Here are just a few of the many
maritime superstitions.
 Bananas, have no place at sea. Since the 1700’s, it has been
widely believed that having a banana on board was an omen of
disaster.
 Friday is the worst possible day to start a journey on a boat and
no enterprise can succeed which commences on that day.
 AND THE MOST POPULAR SUPERSTITION İS “A Woman on
Board is Bad Luck”. While having a woman on board would
anger the sea, having a “naked” woman on board would calm the
sea.
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3. A WOMAN ON BOARD İS BAD LUCK!
 This is why many vessels have a figure of a woman on the bow
of the ship, this figure almost always being bare-breasted. It
was believed that a woman’s bare breasts would “shame” the
stormy seas into calm. Alas, the ancient power of female nudity.
 In Suzanne Stark's book 'Female Tars' she tells
of an example in the middle ages when sailors
gave in to this fear with horrible consequences.
At the height of a storm off the coast of
Cornwall, panicking men in a fleet of ships
began to throw their female passengers to
the sea. Over sixty women were drowned in
this way in the hope of appeasing the storm and
saving themselves. It failed to work and the
majority of men, including their commander, Sir
John Arundel, died.
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4. THE EARLY DAYS OF WOMEN AT SEA
 Before the 1600’s when a ship  To be the wife of a sailor in
came into port, women went to the age of sail was a hard
on board and stay there until life on land or sea. They
the ship put to sea again. Many usually stayed at home
officials noted that ships waiting for meagre wages
became overrun with women. that were often extremely
late. Wives of men from the
lower deck, who went to sea
with their husbands, could
expect a harsh and
 Being women on board was as dangerous life. Officially
a ship's boy. They preferred they did not exist, and there
wearing male clothes and the was no record of them on
company of men. the muster.
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5. WOMEN IN SERVICE ON LINERS
 The growth of commercial liners and the
increase in voyages across the Atlantic
gave women their first opportunity to
forge a career at sea.(1980’s) At first the
domestic staff that sailed were in the direct
employ of female passengers, who would
not be waited on by men.
 Then when the numbers of poor women emigrants increased
there was a greater need for female staff to guard their physical
and moral well-being. These female crewmembers were called
‘Ship’s Matrons’ at a low grade and ‘Conductress’ if they
were of higher status.
 Women weren't always welcome on board ships, even when
working in what were traditionally seen as 'women's roles'.
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6.  The range of opportunities for women at sea was not to change
for many years to come. Well into the twentieth century
women were still working in domestic roles; it took women a
long time to break into clerical positions and from there to
challenge men’s work in every area on board.
TAKING OVER COMMAND
 Today’s ships are technologically very
advanced and the oceans are safe to
operate. The adventurous instincts of
women to face challenges at sea are a
growing phenomenon and the
shipping industry has to adjust and
adapt. It has been reported that in the
male dominated sea, they are put to
confront severe discrimination.
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7.  The discrimination begins at
the Maritime Education &
Training Institutes where the
faculty expresses doubts on
women’s capability to
withstand the vagaries at sea.
Thereby, They are always
subjected to endurance test and
are required to prove their
physical ability.
 At last years, some institutes from different countries are
giving special chances for women colleguies. For
example, When The ITU Maritime Faculty in Turkey was
opening its doors to women, it had set up a special quota
unless limiting score.
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8. STCW CONFERENCE, 1995, ATT.3
 Resolution 14 – Promotion of the participation of women
in the maritime industry
THE CONFERENCE,
 HAVING ADOPTED the 1995 amendments to the
International Convention on Standards of Training,
Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978,
 NOTING the International Maritime Organization’s Medium-
Term Plan for the Integration of Women in the Maritime Sector
and expressing support for the Organization’s aims of
promoting the training of women in the maritime sector,
 DESIRING to achieve equal access for men and women to
maritime training and to employment on board ship,
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9.  INVITES Governments:
 .1. to give special consideration to
securing equal access by men and
women in all sectors of the
maritime industry;
 .2. to highlight the role of women
in the seafaring profession and to
promote their greater participation
in maritime training and at all
levels in the maritime Industry.
Molly Kool, 1st woman licensed
 THE STUDIES LIKE THIS RESOLUTION WERE THE
BIGGEST SUPPORTERS OF THE IDEA “ WOMEN ON
WATER”.
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10. WISTA
 Women's International Shipping & Trading Association
(WISTA) is an international organization for women
in management positions involved in maritime transportation
business and related trades worldwide.
 WISTA aims to be a major player in attracting more women to
the industry and in supporting women in management
positions. With networking, education and mentoring in focus
we can enhance members' competence and empower career
success.
 WISTA is growing! With over 1.300 individual members
and 29 National WISTA Associations (NWAs), the
membership has increased by 40% during the past years.
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11. THE SHIP’S MASTER (FOR MEN)
 A Captain has responsibilities to the
crew, ship, cargo and voyage from the
port of embarkation to the port of
disembarkation. He has the authority to
initiate prudent action to protect the vessel
and save it from hazard and to call upon all
persons onboard to render assistance in an
emergency, failure to render such
assistance constitute a crime. The Master is
a 'father like figure' onboard, who is
required to lead, look after, guide and
support the crew.
 THESE DEFITIONS ARE MOST FOR MEN, BUT WOMEN
CAPTAIN’S CAN DO THIS JOB AS GOOD AS MEN.
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12. IT‘S ALL ABOUT LEADERSHIP
 As a master of ship he/she must have the characteristics of a
leader, which are written below:
 Honesty  Fair-minded
 Competent  Broad-minded
 Forward-looking  Courageous
 Inspiring  Straightforward
 Intelligent  Imaginative
 A number of the characteristics of a leader fall into a greater
category that many of the leading executives of today refer to
as Emotional Intelligence. Achieving this level of leadership
will inspire those around you and lead your teams to great
heights.
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13. EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE OF
WOMEN
 If women are proficient in these competencies, their higher
emotional intelligence scores might reduce the
discrimination they face during attempts to rise in
management positions, and instead advertise women as
skilled leaders.
 However, this could become possible if the organization takes
proactive decision and formulates policies, which promote
participation and progress of women.
 The first question arises as to whether the organizations, in
which females are working for, are treating them equal and
giving them their rights.
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14.  The action, to ensure the women
managers function as effectively as their
male counterparts do, is to provide
women who already have basic
leadership traits with additional
management skills and tools that will
contribute to enhanced performance. The
good news regarding emotional forms of
intelligence is that they can be easily
learned, therefore, organizations could
specifically keep training programs for
enhancing the EI competency so that
women could climb the ladder to high
positions.
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15.  Since progressive organizations aim to hire the best talent,
both men and women, they should recognize that women face
a tougher challenge than men do after they join the male
dominated organization. Training, educating, and nurturing
women mangers will ensure their accelerated growth after
they have become comfortable in the workplace.
 In addition to, improving the
corporate environment by
removing barriers that exist for
women but not for men. Glass
ceiling for women managers is an
attitudinal hurdle. Organizations
need to provide same challenging
assignment to women, as men,
which will tax them, stretch their
potential, and provide a learning
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16. EMPLOYED WOMEN ON BOARD
 Women represent only 1-2 per cent of the world's 1.25 million
seafarers.
 In the cruise line sector, they represent 17-18% of the workforce.
 94% of women are employed on passenger ships (with 68% on
ferries and 26% on cruise ships) and 6% are employed on cargo
vessels (i.e., container ships, oil tankers, etc.).
 As for jobs, there are women shipmasters and chief engineers,
as well as other officers. Women are working as hotel staff on
passenger ships.Of this latter group, 51.2% of women at sea
come from OECD countries, 23.6% from Eastern Europe, 9.8%
from Latin America and Africa, 13.7% from the Far East, and
1.7% from south Asia and the Middle East.
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17. IMPROVING CONDITIONS FOR WOMAN
 The maritime community has parts: companies, trade unions,
seafarers' welfare organizations, and others.
 Companies could try to place new recruits aboard vessels
with women officers.
 Sexual harassment policies are important.
 Trade unions should take up these matters and other issues.
 Improving conditions of women at sea is also related to improving
conditions of work for all seafarers. In this regard, the ILO is in the
process of consolidating its many maritime labour Conventions
into a single, consolidated standard. At the national level, and at
the company level, there should be increased emphasis on
improving shipboard conditions.
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18. VIEWS OF THE WOMEN ON WATER
 According to some of the women interviewed for the study, those
days of balmy working conditions may be some time off.Women
seafarers reported comments like their place being "in the
kitchen" rather than on deck, that women weren't suited for the
sea because they "all argue with each other" (as if men don't!),
being told "blonde jokes" or given the worst, dirtiest jobs.
 "The lads I was sailing with spent about four months doing those
awful jobs, and then they were up on the bridge in a clean
environment," said one woman who spoke about being tested to
see if she had the "right stuff" for the job.They will push a
woman a lot, lot harder."
 Some women reported taking drastic measures to avoid being
harassed, including altering or "de-feminizing" their
appearance (one woman engineer actually shaved her
head!).Another cited how she had to punch a chief officer to get
him out of her room.
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19. “WHERE THERE IS A WILL
THERE IS A WAY !!!”
THANK YOU
FOR YOUR ATTENTION…
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