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Women gradually venturing into maritime industry

By Muniratu Zanzeh Adams, CDA Consult
Mrs Essel addressing the participantsMrs Essel addressing the participants
03.04.2022 LISTEN

Women are gradually digging into the maritime industry is predominantly a men-related field, Mrs. Florence Essel, Assistant General Manager in Charge of Administration, Ghana Ports and Harbour Authority (GPHA) has revealed.

The nature of the work in the maritime sector makes it difficult for women to enter but adding that however technological advancement has made it easier for women to handle some of the heavy-duty machines.

She, therefore, sounded the alarm trumpet to encourage more females to partake in maritime courses in order to operate equally within a male-dominated field.

Mrs. Essel stated this at the eleventh monthly stakeholder engagement seminar organized by the Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Office which is a platform rolled out for state and non-state actors to address national issues.

The eleventh stakeholder engagement was also used to climax the GNA Tema Regional Office’s month-long activities to mark the 2022 International Women’s Day celebration and also mark the first anniversary of the stakeholder engagement.

Speaking on the topic: “Prospects of women in the blue economy: Women’s contribution to the GPHA’s 60 years of operation,” Mrs. Essel said societal classification of jobs in the past made it difficult for the female to venture into the male-dominated fields.

She also noted that some of the machines and other operational mechanisms made it virtually impossible for a female to enter those fields in the past but now the situation is changing.

It was difficult for young girls to participate in Maritime courses due to the risks involved, sea-related work is difficult since it is associated with technical machinery where lots of risks are involved.

Mrs. Essel said that in recent times, women have participated in these courses and have made immense contributions to the GPHA.

Stressing on women’s contribution to the growth of GPHA, Mrs. Essel said “more women have been trained in IT and machine operations to be able to operate the various modern equipment at the ports”.

She said 16 per cent of the entire staff at the GPHA are females adding that their Transit Area is also headed by a female while some females work at the Management Departments.

She data shows that two females work at the Machine Operation Field, five at the Engineering Facility, three at the Technical Engineering Field, and 35 at the Head of Department Field.

She said formally, that all these fields were managed by men only and encouraged young females to rise and enter into the field of work, to balance the number workforce.

Mrs. Essel said other foreign institutions take advantage to train more females on scholarship courses to be able to reach higher heights.

Mr. Francis Ameyibor, Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Manager in his remarks commended the GPHA for opening up the workspace for women’s penetration into the male-dominated field.

He revealed that technology has virtually balanced the workspace, “works that in the past demanded physical manpower have changed as machines are now being used to manage these, this makes it flexible for the female to also operate it”.

Mrs. Sika Ramatu Lawson, a Project Electrical Engineer at the Department of Electrical Engineer at Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) who spoke on “Prospects of women in the oil refinery sector: Women’s contribution to the success story of the Tema Oil Refinery,” said the refinery which was a purely engineering-oriented field of work, was predominantly male-dominated as fewer women study and work in that area.

Mrs. Cynthia Kwarteng Tufuor, the Area Manager for Tema Region of SIC Insurance Company speaking on “Prospects of women in the insurance industry: Women’s contribution to the SIC Mission,” said women form about 60 per cent of the workforce of SIC Insurance but occupy 35 per cent of leadership positions.

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