FIJI is home to 91 female seafarers.
Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Disaster Management and Meteorological Services Jone Usamate highlighted this while officiating at the International Seafarer’s Day at Fiji Maritime Academy in Nasese yesterday.
Mr Usamate said the number of local female seafarers is increasing and is encouraging.
He said their contribution to the industry could never be emphasized enough.
“This means women are very much involved in this field which traditionally has always been perceived to be a male dominated field,” Minister Usamate said.
He said the perception about seafaring and the maritime industry as a whole was slowly changing for good.
The International Transport Federation estimates that female seafarers make up about 23,000 of its total membership.
