JEANINE Drummond is in a rare pod of women with vast sea qualifications and titles including ship captain and harbour master.
At the beginning of her career 25 years ago, as she studied and moved up in rank from deck officer aboard container ships, bulk carriers and tankers, the petite Lake Macquarie mum was happy to blend into the background. When she reached the position of captain after 10 years, the then 29-year-old quietly celebrated with her crew.
Ms Drummond, who has launched her own consultancy after a two-year stint as the first and only female Harbour Master at Port of Newcastle, says there was a reason for her modesty.
"It comes from being a female in a highly male represented environment, and you soon learn when you start out that you need to blend and fit in. You don't want to stand out," she says.
However, Drummond, a non-executive board member of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and Australian Maritime College, is now advocating for women in her industry.
"When I got to senior roles I realised that I have a responsibility for ensuring greater diversity in the maritime industry and also awareness of the Australian maritime industry and job opportunities, and I think being a more unique feature certainly helps."
"The more I developed awareness about more of the industry than just me fitting in and doing my thing, I discovered that diversity is essential for effective teams and high performance, and a sustainable future. Things won't change in the maritime industry unless there are better role modes, better mentoring and visible support networks."
Drummond says there are less than 2 per cent of seafarers globally who are female, and most are largely in hotel roles on passenger ships.
"Those statistics haven't changed in 25 years and I am passionate that in shore-based and sea roles, we create diverse roles. My particular lens comes through gender diversity but it is diversity on all levels - culture, viewpoint, experiences. It is what makes teams more effective, with better outcomes."
Raised mainly waterside on the Central Coast, Ms Drummond's decision to study to be a ships deck officer was inspired by a childhood neighbour, a maritime engineer, who took her aboard a navy ship in Sydney and, noticing her interest, suggested she apply for a cadetship with a shipping company.
Moving to Tasmania at 18 to begin studying nautical science and began a four-year cadetship with a shipping company, starting as a deck officer and eventually becoming a qualified ship master at 28 - the first female master with Teekey Shipping. Her first command, of a petroleum tanker, came a year later.
"Everyday is different, you are thrown different challenges, you are on a ship with less than 20 people and between them you need to keep the ship operating across oceans, isolated conditions, deal with machinery failures or medical emergencies - you have to think out side the box outside when you don't have a firefighting service that can turn up. It's all about prevention and preparation," she notes.
"Outwardly I may be calm, inwardly I may not be but it's all about having the training and asking questions. Very early on I learnt I wanted to learn the ins and outs, I just didn't want an answer, I wanted to understand it. Then when it comes to emergencies, you need your systems, you need to know what your people are capable of, their strengths and weakness, you have to listen and learn and you never assume."
Since then, Ms Drummond, 44, has studied Graduate Diploma of Maritime Management to to take Port Authority of New South Wales roles including harbour master of Newcastle and Yamba and general manager (operations) and deputy harbour master of Sydney port.
After rolling with the punches of COVID-19 as harbour master of the Port of Newcastle, Ms Drummond stepped away from the role in November to launch her maritime consultancy business Integral Maritime.
"I had been in high level 24-7 senior maritime port shipping roles for the previous seven years and it was an opportunity to do something different and start a business to provide niche services with my background and skills and experience while balancing the commitments of the recent board appointments."
The company provides specialist marine expertise and advice to clients on a range of technical, operational, regulatory and business solutions across shipping, ports and general maritime operations.
Demand for Ms Drummond's unique skillset is high because, she says, many maritime and port organisations don't have permanent staff members with maritime backgrounds or indeed a rich mix of sea and "on shore", operational and commercial roles as she has.
"They don't often need a permanent role but need ad hoc advice on impacts to shipping caused by (maintenance breakdowns), unplanned events, project development and upgrade works," she says. "They often need someone who understands the regulation, the port stakeholders and within that space I can come in an offer assistance with those discussions on how to mange that, being familiar with ports around Australia and their operations, which differ due to state legislation. I can help them navigate it."
Ms Drummond is growing her company slowly, allowing time for her board roles and family.
"The interesting thing is I have been pushed into areas that I wasn't looking at - I've had clients ask me for advice in diversity and inclusion in their maritime businesses through the advocacy work I do - that was a surprise, and it's encouraging."
She is also working in the innovation space, looking at how to value-add technology to improve operation efficiency and safety.
"I'm excited to see where things grow and where it goes to. Listening to what he industry and stakeholders and clients need is important because I can see things are changing quickly in maritime with technology and I am making sure I can provide a good service in that space."
She admits to missing the challenge of her former sea-faring and executive, high-pressure roles, but is enjoying sleeping better at night.
She is also passionate about inspiring a new generation into her industry.
"Australia is fortunate in so many ways however we don't have the same pathways into the industry," she says, adding that while the shipping industry used to be a "feeder" into many roles, Australia now lacks the large number of registered ships to offer as many opportunities.
She is also a passionate mentor for women, having co-founded the support network Women in Maritime.
"There was no access or known networks when I started. I knew of other women in the industry and that gave me inspiration to know there were other female masters or pilots," she says.
Founded in 2018, the support network is a connector for women at an operational level in the industry, offering mentoring and support and raising their profiles.
