Syrian woman proves her presence in maritime transport sector

The Syrian woman  has endeavored to prove her presence in the field of maritime transport and to be an active element in it through her work within the crew of a ship owned by the General Organization for Maritime Transport that arrived at the port of Latakia on Tuesday evening.

“This profession is no longer restricted to men,” said marine engineer Bushra Nassif, who referred to the government’s efforts in this field, whether through the academic or professional aspect.

Nassif, who accompanied the ship’s journey along with its crew and shared  work with them, indicated in a statement to a SANA reporter that this step aims to link the administrative sector with the professional. The Ministry of Transport is working according to the instructions and questionnaire of the International Maritime Organization “IMO”, which was launched at the beginning of this year in cooperation with the International Women’s Federation for Trade and Navigation about women’s work in shipping. According to Nassif, the questionnaire aims to obtain comparative data that will help the organization to create programs and propose policies that contribute to increasing the contribution and participation of women in the maritime field. She expressed the ministry’s readiness to work according to the questionnaire in the framework of developing a database of experts in a wide range of marine issues.

She pointed out that the Ministry of Transport is a pioneer in involving women in the transport sector, as there are many Syrian women working in the administrative side, so that this is the first experience on board ships.

In turn, the captain of the ship, Nadim Hajjar, stated that the International Maritime Organization “IMO” requires the participating countries to include women as a working element in the maritime field, similar to the rest of the fields of transport. Accordingly, the ministry dispatched a marine engineer to take the first trip on board the ship, praising the capabilities of the Syrian woman who prove each time her ability to excel and work side by side with the man, as in this experience despite the difficulty of working in the maritime field.

Inas Abdulkareem