According to Lena Dyring, the Director of Cruise Operations for the Norwegian Seafarers’ Union, women seafarers face “massive job loss in the cruise industry due to the ongoing COVID crisis.”

“Many of the seafarers working in this industry are, in fact, women,” she said in a video post on Facebook.

Some other issues faced by females in the industry, according to Dyring, are discrimination, harassment and bullying.

“We still see women not being hired after graduating from maritime colleges, academies and universities just because of the simple fact that they are women,” said Dyring, who is also the women’s representative on the ITF Seafarer Section Committee.

“We also do hear women experiencing more harassment and bullying while working onboard than their male counterparts do,” she added.

According to Dyring, some of the ways to overcome these problems as an employer are to “encourage their women seafarers to come back to work once the COVID crisis is behind” and not miss out on 50 percent of the talent pool just because of “the simple fact that they are women.”

“And finally, when women do report harassment, bullying and other unwanted experiences onboard, they must be taken seriously and appropriate action has to be taken,” Dyring said.