International Day for Women in Maritime 2025
On 18 May, the maritime industry annually celebrates the International Day for Women in Maritime to promote the recruitment, retention and sustained employment of women in the maritime sector, raise the profile of women in maritime, strengthen the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5 (gender equality) and support work to address the current gender imbalance in the maritime workforce.
In a video message for the International Day for Women in Maritime 2025, under the theme - An Ocean of Opportunities for Women - Professor Maximo Q. Mejia, Jr., WMU President, said, “Gender equality is fundamental to building a sustainable future, not only in the maritime sector, but in all realms. Diversity and equity are central to driving innovation and fostering resilience, and we can only unlock our full collective potential when opportunities are accessible to all. Although progress is being made, we have substantial work ahead to ensure the maritime sector is rooted in equity. On this International Day of Women in Maritime, I reiterate WMU’s commitment to education, research, and global partnerships that break down barriers to ensure inclusive participation and leadership opportunities for all.”
IMO Symposium - An Ocean of Opportunities for Women
As part of the International Day for Women in Maritime celebrations, WMU contributed to the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) - An Ocean of Opportunities for Women Symposium - at IMO headquarters in London on 16 May. WMU Research Associate, Dr Renis Auma Ojwala, participated in a panel discussion on Ocean Conservation: Young People and Why Change Matters as well as WMU graduate, Dr Kristal Ambrose, International Ocean Consultant and Founder of the Bahamas Plastic Movement.
2025 International Conference on Advancing the Blue Economy through Gender Equality
From 19-21 May, in support of advancing women in the maritime and ocean professions, and building on the WMU international conferences focused on Women in Maritime delivered in 2008, 2014, and 2019, WMU is hosting the 2025 International Conference on Advancing the Blue Economy through Gender Equality. Researchers, government officials, and international organization experts from around the world will join the conference that will foster collaborative knowledge-sharing to explore strategies, actions, good practices, and present case studies promoting gender equality within the featured topics of the conference.
WMU & Advancing Gender Equality in Maritime and Ocean Professions
Through its well established education, capacity development and research agenda, and recognizing that all the goals are interrelated and indivisible, the World Maritime University (WMU) is committed to the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, particularly Goal 5 focused on Gender Equality. The University continually pursues efforts to increase the number of women enrolled across all programmes offered. In addition, WMU conducts research on gender-related issues in the maritime and oceans realm, including through programmes dedicated to empowering women
As WMU continues to improve gender balance in maritime and ocean-related fields, female student representation at WMU has improved substantially from 3% in 1983 to a current record of 40 percent women in the Class of 2025 MSc in Maritime Affairs programme delivered in Malmö, Sweden, while the WMU MSc specializations delivered in Shanghai and Dalian, China, have achieved the milestones of gender parity. Through recruitment strategies and support from fellowship donors, the proportion of female students and faculty continues to increase. To date, there are 1,493 female graduates from WMU out of the overall 6,342 graduates from 171 countries and territories.
In further support of gender equality, through generous support of donors, WMU is engaged in a research and capacity development Programme on Empowering Women for the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. The programme was officially endorsed as an Ocean Action by IOC-UNESCO during the official launch of the Decade. WMU is committed to contributing and facilitating the empowerment of women in the conduct of ocean science, as well as in delivering science-based decision-making processes in ocean governance systems.
On 27 March 2025, the Deep Dive on Seafarer Sustainability report was launched by Lloyd's Register Foundation, and is based on WMU research that highlights opportunities to make the number of seafarers more sustainable by investing in Africa's emerging talent and supporting women in maritime roles. The report examines entry barriers for careers in maritime, many of which intersect for both women and those living on the African continent. It highlights that reaching 25% women seafarers by 2050 could be possible by following several steps, which the report breaks down, ranging from awareness campaigns to encourage more girls into STEM, to gender equality policies and targeted scholarships.
