About us
Who we are
SheWorthy is a collective initiative established by a group of female seafarers and professionals in the maritime industry. Together, we are committed to challenge the industry to ensure equal opportunities are created for everyone with passion for a career at sea!
Our efforts include leveling the playing field, inspiring personal and professional development, and providing competence and skills to motivate and encourage career growth. Looking ahead, being part of the transition where vessels to a larger degree will be operated from shore-based control centers, due to technological advancement and digitalization, is essential and will open up for more balanced opportunities.
In short; we shall be the change we want to see!
Our guiding principles
SheWorthy is committed to United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal No. 5 on Gender Equality. Today, diversity in terms of nationalities and cultures is well represented in the maritime industry, but it lags in the employment of female seafarers. We shall strive to achieve gender equality and empowerment of all women in the maritime industry.
SheWorthy shall be a mover and shaker for sustainable development and shall take part in the disruptive changes that will affect the maritime industry going forward. Operational excellence will depend on advancement in technology and the ability of the human resources to adapt; both of those who will work onboard, and of those who will work from onshore control centers. Taking part in the the development and preparation of the future e-farer is a mission SheWorthy seeks to accomplish.
To thrive in a sustainable future, SheWorthy shall develop partnerships with courageous stakeholders to mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources. We aim to work with like-minded partners who share our purpose in creating more equal opportunities in the maritime industry.
Our story
Tied together by a shared vision
About a decade ago, a few young girls were interviewed for a nautical scholarship education, among a much bigger crowd of the usual male applicants. The girls were 16 years old at the time. They were interviewed by a young professional in the maritime industry, who herself had not taken the nautical path, but who was determined to find the most dedicated and hardworking girls to become part of the future shipboard officers of the company she worked for. Three eager yet enormously nervous girls passed the interview that day, and have today developed into strong and brave maritime deck and engine officers, performing exemplary onboard merchant vessels.
They have since then been joined by several other females, all with different backgrounds and personalities, but with the same purpose and ambition - to take command of the ship and ensure that the world is supplied with the most essential goods each and every day.
On the 8th of March 2021, International Women’s Day, these women gathered again to establish a network they have chosen to call SheWorthy, with the fundamental goal to empower and motivate female seafarers and young aspirants who wish to build a career at sea. They are joined by other female colleagues in the industry who want to contribute to this mission.
We call our network SheWorthy because we believe women are seaworthy. Just like how ships and vessels undergo required tests and safety checks to be considered seaworthy, female seafarers undergo exactly the same mandatory certifications and trainings as male seafarers do, ensuring that women are just as fit to serve onboard vessels!
Inspirational Stories
Meet Chief Officer Thadz
“Life onboard has taught me so much. I have learned that when we have a set of goals worthy of pursuing, failures and discouragements along the way must not be a reason for us to quit, but instead be a reason for us to move forward.”
While women still only comprise two percent of the 1.2 million seafarers worldwide, it is no longer nearly impossible for them to enter the industry. And Thadz is one of the many women who have successfully built a career at sea.
Thaddea Pearl Hangad, or Thadz, is a Chief Officer from OSM Maritime Group. She has been sailing for about 8 years now. She started her career through the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association’s (NSA) Cadet Program in the Philippines. Thadz has been working on tankers, and currently, she is working on newly-built Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) tankers in the same company.
When she started sailing, her family was her ultimate inspiration and the reason why she chose to become a seafarer. After having learned about the NSA Cadet Program, she decided to pursue it so she could help her family at a young age. But Thadz never imagined that while pursuing a career at sea and helping her family, she could at the same time empower women to become whoever they want to be. She never knew that she could be an inspiration to others since she grew up as a very shy girl. And now, being an inspiration to others is what encourages her to perform even better at work and to continue building her career in the maritime industry.
Thadz may be serving as a senior officer onboard now, but the journey reaching such position has not been completely seamless. She has had her fair share of hurdles in her career as a result of being a woman. People always ask her if it is hard to work on a ship because she is a woman. However, she believes that it is the mindset of people that is making it harder. People have different thoughts and opinions, especially when they have never been onboard a vessel. Despite the many questions, knowing how to manage herself even if she is the only girl onboard, knowing her boundaries, her goals, the reason why she is there are the only things that matter. And for her, it is never the gender that will determine if people will succeed in what they do - it is what they CAN do that will.
As a she-farer herself, Thadz absolutely believes that female seafarers in the industry must be empowered and supported. She hopes to see maritime companies and networks work on having campaigns that talk about gender-balanced workforce and women’s rights while at sea in order to encourage more women to pursue a sea-based career. She also sees the need to utilize women in the industry who have already built their names and positions to be able to inspire more young girls. Trainings on overcoming unconscious bias, company procedures and guidelines, managing oneself, and leadership skills in a male-dominated workforce would be beneficial to provide as well.
To all female seafarers and young aspirants out there, here are a few words of wisdom from Chief Officer Thadz: “No matter what happens, no matter how far you seem to be away from where you want to be, never stop believing that you will make it. Sometimes, everything we have ever dreamed of is on the other side of our fears. Just continue to dream dreams. Whatever it is that you choose, always keep the faith. Whatever it is that you want, go for it because nothing is impossible with goals and hard work.”
Chief Officer Thaddea Pearl Hangad