Understanding women’s pathways into maritime: Findings from India

Of the more than 30 women we interviewed on the fringes of India Maritime Week, around a third entered the industry because of a parental connection, usually a master mariner father. 

This was the case for Sakahi Kushwaha, who sails as third officer.  “For me there has never been any other field then being a sailor. My father is a sailor, my uncles, my cousins - almost every other male in my family has been sailor. There were no girl sailors in my family, so I thought I’d the first girl to do it.”

It was similar for Sumi Sahi Dutt, a director of NVOCC Sitara Shipping Limited. “Shipping is in my blood because my father is an ex-Merchant Navy captain who started his own business. As children, we always heard stories about shipping at the dining table, so when we were small, we always said that we wanted to enter shipping like our father. This desire was ingrained in us - there was no force from our parents. After my master's degree, I entered shipping management. Then I started working in my family company.  There's been no turning back.”

And the family connection isn’t always paternal. For retired head teacher, Kusum Kanwar, who is a faculty member at Mumbai Marine Training Institute specialising in gender sensitisation, psychological safety, bullying, harassment and stereotype biases, her husband was the root in.

“I've been married to a ‘shippy’ who hung up his sea boots about 25 years ago. He had been a ship captain, and he came ashore and worked for a leading owner. It is through him that I got this break in maritime education, probably during panel discussion when people heard me speak about gender biases and student types in schools.” 

For others, being drawn to shipping has been a far more strategic decision. Redneshwary Kandeepan, who works in crewing, says her move into the industry came when she was evaluating MBA options. She was keen to steer away from finance or HR as she believed there was too much hype around those areas at that time.

“I learned about shipping and logistics and decided to go that route. There were only three females in my class of 60 so I thought ‘OK this is something where I can really give it a try rather than landing just another finance or HR role. I chose shipping without having much industry knowledge and I'm really glad that I did,” she explains.

It was a similar situation for another MBA candidate with a finance background. Benna KS is currently undertaking her business administration master’s in international transportation and logistics management at India Maritime university – Kochi campus.

“I was previously working for Ernst and Young as an associate auditor, which I joined straight after university where I had studied finance and taxation. Here I came to know about the auditing scope that logistics and shipping have and will have in coming years. I have decided that I definitely want to be a part of it.” 

For many though, entry into shipping is coincidence. Dhanya T Mallar is an advocate, practicing maritime law and her foray into the industry was accidental.  “I never thought I would be in shipping. I thought I would be doing mergers and acquisitions, arbitration, corporate law or another other kind of litigation,” she explains, “I would say it was down to my first boss. I used to work with a law firm in Kerala, and we did a lot of maritime work there. I really became interested in the field and the technical aspects that came along with it. That is the reason I'm in maritime law.”

Similarly initiated into maritime was Kavita Bane, a director of VR Maritime Services Private Limited, a maritime crew management company. “Shipping was totally new to me. I had never imagined how big this industry is. I started my shipping career 25 years back with V. Ships then with Clipper. I have worked with my current present company - VR Maritime Services Private Limited – for more than12 ago, dealing with its Indian seafarers.  Now I go all over the world to meet ship owners. I get to go on ships to meet the crew. Relationships are so fundamental in our industry.”

She adds: “If I had known about this industry when I was at school, I would definitely have become a master mariner. I love the sea. I love this industry.” 

And shipping also doesn’t have to be a first career. Rita Guha, 73, is the founder director of New Logistics Private Limited, a freight forwarding and multimodal operator. She came into the business by chance and at the behest of her niece, whose shipping employer was looking for an agent in Mumbai. 

“She suggested that I do it. I said I don't know anything about freight forwarding but she insisted it was easy and I could learn. So that's how I learned. I jumped and then I learned to swim. I must have been in my mid 30s when I got into freight forwarding.”