OVER 4,000 Myanmar women seafarers have worked on cruise ships, according to the seafaring community.
At present, women have been allowed to work on cruise ships, and there are around 4,000 Myanmar women seafarers working onboard.
“Years ago, since passport applications had been granted for nearly all people, women also went seafaring. At the time, women worked as hotel staff on cruises by holding either a job passport or a visit passport. But the rule was changed later and restricted them to have seaman’s passport for going seafaring. We’ve known that more than 1,000 women have held seamen passports, so far. But more than 3,000 women have already worked onboard with other types of passports, years ago,” said Myanmar Seafarers Federation President Captain Soe Min Aung.
Lately, Myanmar women are interested in working as seafarer so he suggested that they should do preparations so that they can meet the requirements for seafaring jobs.
He said some European ship owners have reportedly held discussions on employing women for officer positions on cargo ships.
“The global seafaring community has also encouraged the women seafaring workforce to grow. For now, we know that no Myanmar women have been on cargo ships. But some European ship owners have launched discussions on promoting women’s employment to cadet positions for cargo ships,” he said. — MT/ ZS
