Women lead the agenda at London International Shipping Week

Women in command, a maritime incident ─ the perfect dilemma, and the marvels of Old Father Thames are just a few of the interesting topics that WISTA-UK will be exploring at this year’s WISTA-UK event during London International Shipping Week (LISW). Following on from the success of their grand debate at LISW in 2013 WISTA-UK, in conjunction with UKTI, will again be holding an exciting programme of free activities on the first day of LISW from 7-11 September 2015. Open to the public, these series of seminars, workshops and events aim to educate and challenge, as well as encourage people to meet new faces, learn from industry professionals and make the most of networking opportunities.
With people registering from as far away as India and from a variety of countries including Malta, Greece, the Netherlands and Estonia, WISTA-UK and UKTI’s events are shaping up to be a truly international experience that will provide an ideal opportunity for attendees to participate in significant maritime debates.
Parveen Thornhill, UKTI Regional Director for London said, “UKTI is pleased to be working with WISTA-UK at the LISW. It is great to be working with such a well-established trading association that has been creating opportunities for women in the last 38 years. The programme of events organised looks to be particularly interesting with talks on a range of subjects including the River Thames. This day will create key networking opportunities for those in the shipping industry.
 “The UK is a world leader in shipping and as such is in a strong position to export. 21% of international marine insurance premiums are written through London, and around 40% of the global chartering market takes place in London.
The UK as a whole has a strong position in the shipping sector, with 1.5% of the world fleet’s capacity owned by UK-based companies and 3.2% managed by UK-based companies. It is great to be part of an event bringing together shipping experts from around the world enabling even more growth in this sector for British businesses. The LISW is a very important event for the shipping industry as is shown by its popularity and we are glad to support it.”
The first course of the programme will include a seminar on “Women in Command”. Being in command is a challenging job so WISTA UK is taking this opportunity to examine the woman’s role in the industry. It is estimated that only 4% of seagoing staff are female, which is a potential resource being wasted. How can the industry recruit and retain seafarers to respond to the worldwide shortage of qualified crews? A challenging and new perspective will be presented. The second session, “The Perfect Dilemma – an Interactive Workshop,” lead by Capt Nigel Moniz and Capt Pushkar Gadam of DGS Marine will focus on the complexities of maritime casualties. It will examine the varied and high value risks that vessel owning businesses can be exposed to, as well as the multiple interested parties involved in smoothly concluding a voyage.
The session will advise interested parties how to react to these incidents, ambiguity surrounding the question of liability and how to adhere to local and international regulations. Mike Godfrey, Head of PR at Image Line Communications will also make a presentation on crisis media relations. The third session will include a presentation titled, “Old Father Thames – there’s life in the old man yet”, led by historical geographer Dr David Hilling MBE and Commander David Phillips MNI MVO, Chief Harbour Master, Port of London Authority. The presentation will cover how the River Thames has shaped English history, the changing use of Thames-side facilities and what’s going on with the Thames today.