RightShip join maritime giants launching innovation competition to drive Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

RightShip have joined forces with Hafnia, Anglo American, Wilhemsen, Rio Tinto and Thome Group, to launch the Maritime Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Innovation Lab 2022. 

An open competition for interested participants - including individuals, institutions, companies, and students - the Innovation Lab call this year is for ideas addressing DEI shortfalls in the maritime industry. The aim of the Lab is to uncover powerful potential for change through crowdsourcing - applying rapid and agile methodology from ideation through to product development.

Shortlisted teams participate in an Innovation Lab to hone their pitches in preparation for a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style session with industry leaders. The winning team and their idea will be brought to life with collaboration and funding from us, at RightShip, and the other partner organisations involved.

According to the most recent BIMCO/ICS 2021 Seafarer Workforce Report, women represent only 1.2% percent of the global seafarer workforce. And findings from the Diversity Study Group 2021 show there is a significant lack of ethnic and female representation in senior roles. As such, the maritime sector lags when it comes to attracting and retaining the talent required to succeed in the face of increasing uncertainty and complexity.

This year’s competition follows the Women in Maritime Lab 2020 which resulted in the creation of SeaCode, a platform offering peer-to-peer support to seafarers, whilst gathering and aggregating industry data. Recently, SeaCode was incorporated within the ISWAN organisation.

In announcing this year’s program, Hafnia’s Mia Krogslund Jørgensen (Vice President), People, Culture and Strategy, reiterated the urgent need for a collective approach to address change, not only from an organisational level, but from anyone with an interest in driving the tomorrow of the maritime industry.

Steen Lund, CEO of RightShip, added: “Breaking habits and creating behaviour change is difficult – but it is not impossible. That’s why initiatives like this one are essential to drive the new maritime environment that we want to see, one that is welcoming, equitable and considers the needs of a diverse spectrum of people.”

Those interested in driving change in the maritime industry are invited to come along and find out more at an introductory kick off call on Thursday 18 August 2022 at 9am (BST) or, if they’re ready, to simply submit ideas through the innovation lab website.