Supporting diversity and inclusion at sea

The maritime sector is one of great diversity, with people from all over the world coming together – both ashore and on board vessels. However, with diversity can come misunderstanding and it can often be hard for people to adjust to these new working environments.

Our training business, Marlins, recently partnered with Human Rights at Sea to develop a course on ‘Diversity & Inclusion at Sea’, which for a limited time will be offered free of charge to individual subscribers and will be available to subscribers of Marlins' elearning suite for seafarers. This is the second such partnership with Human Rights at Sea, with the earlier launch of a course on responding to the migrant crisis at sea, back in December last year.

One of the biggest issues is that seafarers are often away from home for long periods of time, which as Tineke Bosma, Marlins’ training development specialist, and a former seafarer, explains, “This can heighten sensitivities to diversity and inclusion issues on board, which can lead to some people feeling even more lonely, without the familiarity of friends and family around them.”

This new course will help seafarers understand how to create an environment of respect, reflecting on individual differences and consider how to interact with their colleagues, regardless of differences in culture, faith or gender. The course content was developed with input from Apostleship of the Sea and the UK Royal Navy diversity team, Compass. The course concept is being launched this week at the inaugural International Maritime Human Rights conference in London with the final version due for release in early 2017.