A Personal Request to Women in Maritime

From Pipeline to Pulse

A Personal Request to Women in Maritime

Over the past twenty years working in maritime and energy recruitment, I have had the privilege of meeting extraordinary women across this industry — on vessels, in ports, in engineering teams, in maritime law, in offshore projects and in leadership roles.

Yet one moment a few years ago stayed with me.

A company asked me a simple question:

“Tracey, can you find us a woman for this role?”

Two hundred people applied. Only three were women. None were ready to place.

At first glance, it looked like a pipeline problem.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realised something else.

The real issue was visibility.

The Visibility Gap in Maritime

Across the maritime industry, many organisations genuinely want to improve diversity and bring more women into leadership roles. Initiatives such as the WISTA 40 by 30 pledge show a clear commitment from companies to move in that direction.

But there is still a fundamental challenge.

Most organisations do not actually have visibility into where women across the maritime workforce are today.

Careers move. People relocate. Experience deepens. Ambitions shift.

Yet the systems we often rely on — static CV databases and outdated records — freeze people in time.

A CV might show where someone worked five years ago. It rarely shows where their career is heading next.

And without that visibility, hiring often becomes reactive.

By the time a company decides it wants to hire a woman into a leadership role, the search begins too late.

From Pipeline to Pulse

That realisation is what led me to start building Puls8: Women in Maritime.

The idea is simple.

Instead of relying on static pipelines, we create a live pulse of women across the maritime industry.

A living picture of where women are working, what disciplines they specialise in, how their careers are evolving and where they are based across the global maritime sector.

Not to replace organisations or existing initiatives, but to support the entire industry with better visibility and insight.

A Personal Request

This is where I need your help.

Puls8 Women in Maritime will only work if women across the industry choose to participate.

If you are working anywhere across the maritime sector — shipping, ports, offshore energy, maritime law, classification societies, engineering, logistics, maritime technology or regulatory organisations — I would love you to be part of this.

Registering takes less than a minute, but every person who does helps create a clearer picture of the women shaping maritime today.

Why This Matters

The more women who participate, the stronger the visibility becomes. And with that visibility comes the ability for the industry to plan more thoughtfully, identify leadership potential earlier and ensure that women across maritime are seen.

My hope is simple.

That together we can help the maritime industry move from pipeline to pulse.

From static assumptions about talent to real visibility of the women powering this industry every day.

Because visibility is where opportunity begins.