WOMEN PIONEER SEAFARERS

The pods were a really foreign concept to me when I joined the cruise industry in 2018. Now, I can say it’s another ordinary day taking a 1.2 billion dollar babe for a spin during a MEDevac.

By Elizabeth Marami

If you asked my younger self if this is what I would be doing now, I would have probably laughed. Born in the coastal city of Mombasa, Kenya, I always knew I wanted to be different. I wasn’t quite sure how that was going to happen. Fast forward to today, as I sail through the choppy seas dodging hurricanes and tropical storms, I must say, this was probably what my younger self was visualizing but couldn’t quite articulate.

When I embarked on the journey to be a pilot, I realized a lot of responsibility was accorded to me as one of the first pioneer women to pursue this career in my country. I was privileged to work on Kenyan waters after my cadetship in Egypt. However, I still itched to go back to sea and sharpen my skills. I wanted to show the girls that came after me that it was possible to achieve the highest rank. This could only be done by seeking opportunities to sail on foreign going ships, so I could continue sharpening my skills and hopefully command one of the ships.

The application process was the most frustrating period of my life. I received 200 rejection emails. I finally got my call back at sea in 2017. I received the opportunity to  work with a company whose vision is centered on inclusivity and diversity.

During my journey, trying to figure out if this career was really for me, I started a digital story telling platform Womenseafarers. This was to give a face and a voice to so many women like me from all over the world. Women who shared similar struggles as they tried to rise to the next level in their career. My little blog is now a Fully fledged Foundation called Against The Tide Foundation, aimed at designing sustainable solutions aimed at supporting SDG 5 in the seafaring industry.

Elizabeth W. Marami

Elizabeth was born and raised in Kenya. She is Second Officer in command on board the merchant navy foreign going ships, a marine pilot at the Kenya Ports Authority.