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Mitsui O.S.K Lines has appointed Naomi Matsushita as its first female captain
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Matsushita takes command of MOL’s car carrier ‘Beluga Ace’
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The Japanese shipping company says it promotes ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ by giving active roles to women
MITSUI O.S.K Lines (MOL) has appointed its first female ship captain, Naomi Matsushita, who will take command of the car carrier Beluga Ace.
Matsushita was appointed captain effective June 6, 2023. This is the first time a Japanese shipping company has assigned a female seafarer to actually serve as a captain.
In a statement, the MOL Group said Matsushita gained onboard experience mainly on car carriers and containerships since joining the shipping firm.
Onshore, she has been active in a “wide range of fields” such as support for the business divisions and ship management, drawing on the experience and skills she has gained through working onboard.
The shipping company said this is also part of its “promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I),” including the advancement of more active roles for women.
There were only a few occasions in the past when a woman was appointed captain of a merchant vessel. The first woman professional captain was Anna Ivanovna Shchetinina, a native of Vladivostok in Russia, who was appointed in 1935.
Shchetinina broke into the traditionally male-dominated job after working on the ship as a sailor. She rose to the rank of captain of a transatlantic liner. Later, during World War II, she worked on transoceanic routes, evacuated civilians, and participated in military operations.
More recently, Egyptian female student Marwa Elselehdar struggled to get enrolled in the Department of Maritime Transport and Technology at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport as it only accepted men, according to Wikipedia.
She submitted her application and, after much perseverance and a legal review, she was accepted, making her the first woman in the department among 1,200 men.
After graduating in 2013, she joined the crew of the AIDA IV. During the opening ceremony of the new Suez Canal in 2015, then First Mate Elselehdar skippered AIDA IV through the new route. She was around 24, the youngest and the first Egyptian female merchant marine officer to do so.
She was honoured by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in 2017 during Egypt’s Women’s Day celebrations. She became captain after taking the final exam for captainship in May 2021.
Just seven months ago, Wilhelmsen Ship Management appointed its first female Korean captain, Lee Eun Ran, one of the few maritime women in Korean with that rank.
“I hope my achievement can inspire more female seafarers to break the glass ceiling,” the Captain said after her appointment in October 2022.
“As one of the few female captains in Korea and the first in Wilhelmsen, I hope my achievement can inspire more female seafarers to break the glass ceiling and younger generations to consider seafaring as a career.”
