Life in the merchant navy isn’t easy. Several months away from home, often in rough weather, battling the forces of nature can take its toll on any professional. Which is why many marine engineers and merchant navy officers choose to leave the field and look for shore jobs are relatively more grounded.Now think about how many female professionals you’ve seen in this field. Probably none. It’s a male-dominated industry that most girls would stay away from. That’s what makes Jannat’s story special. Not just because she had to do what everyone else around her had to (including the physically demanding tasks), but also deal with the additional burden of having to prove to her less-than-sympathetic bosses and colleagues that she was in no way less than any other crew member on the ship.But that didn’t take away any of her creativity and enthusiasm, as we realised while working together on her MBA applications.
Tough life as the only female marine engineer on the ship
I was a marine engineer in the merchant navy and had been sailing for a little more than three years. My job onboard ships mainly involved taking care of any and all sorts of machinery onboard. I along with other engineers would handle the routine maintenance and carry out the breakdown maintenance when needed.Shipping is essentially a male-dominated field and most of the times I would be the only female onboard. All through the four years I spent in a marine engineering college and then the three years out at sea, I had been in an environment where the gender ratio was 100:1.Such circumstances forced me to learn how to fight for myself and accept the hard truth that I would have to always prove myself and probably work harder than my male counterparts if I was to have their respect.On my very first ship I worked as a trainee under a senior engineer who was not very accepting of women out at sea and more so in the engine room. He would deliberately assign me jobs that would test my physical strength, one of which was test the tightness of engine foundation bolts.This job is difficult because there are approximately 100 such bolts and each has to opened using a hydraulic jack because they are big in size and have been tightened to very high pressure. What makes the job even more challenging is that the bolts are situated at the lowermost part of the engine, so the place is really cramped and its extremely hot (since the engine was running).We were crossing the Red Sea and it was summer time, and I remember wondering how I was going to finish the task. But that was all I thought, ‘how I would finish it’ not ‘whether I would finish it’. Once I finished it, the senior engineer was pleasantly surprised.On each ship since then, it takes the crew a little time to accept me as a part of their team but I try and take it the positive sense. It just makes me work harder and better, and eventually it all always works out just fine.
Tough life as the only female marine engineer on the ship
I was a marine engineer in the merchant navy and had been sailing for a little more than three years. My job onboard ships mainly involved taking care of any and all sorts of machinery onboard. I along with other engineers would handle the routine maintenance and carry out the breakdown maintenance when needed.Shipping is essentially a male-dominated field and most of the times I would be the only female onboard. All through the four years I spent in a marine engineering college and then the three years out at sea, I had been in an environment where the gender ratio was 100:1.Such circumstances forced me to learn how to fight for myself and accept the hard truth that I would have to always prove myself and probably work harder than my male counterparts if I was to have their respect.On my very first ship I worked as a trainee under a senior engineer who was not very accepting of women out at sea and more so in the engine room. He would deliberately assign me jobs that would test my physical strength, one of which was test the tightness of engine foundation bolts.This job is difficult because there are approximately 100 such bolts and each has to opened using a hydraulic jack because they are big in size and have been tightened to very high pressure. What makes the job even more challenging is that the bolts are situated at the lowermost part of the engine, so the place is really cramped and its extremely hot (since the engine was running).We were crossing the Red Sea and it was summer time, and I remember wondering how I was going to finish the task. But that was all I thought, ‘how I would finish it’ not ‘whether I would finish it’. Once I finished it, the senior engineer was pleasantly surprised.On each ship since then, it takes the crew a little time to accept me as a part of their team but I try and take it the positive sense. It just makes me work harder and better, and eventually it all always works out just fine.
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