Port of Oakland National Maritime Day celebrates “seafarers & empowering women”

The theme of the 2019 National Maritime Day Celebration at the Port of Oakland was “Celebrating Seafarers & Empowering Women.”

The May 22^nd celebration, which took place at the International Maritime Center at the Port of Oakland, included speeches by Captain Lynn Korwatch, Executive Director of the Marine Exchange of the San Francisco Bay Region and U.S. Coast Guard Captain Marie Byrd, Commander Sector San Francisco, whose command includes Northern California’s Pacific Coast.

Captain Korwatch told the maritime industry audience that while women have made progress in obtaining jobs and advancement in the industry, these opportunities are contracting as a result of the decline in the number of U.S. flag vessels that can provide employment for all mariners including women.

Korwatch praised the job done by the U.S. maritime schools including the California Maritime Academy, from where she graduated. She said the schools provide the skills and ‘tools” necessary for women to qualify for maritime industry jobs.

She said more public education is necessary for Americans to understand the crucial importance that waterborne vessels play in transporting imports and exports as well as agricultural goods, oil and gas to and from U.S. ports.

U.S. Coast Guard Captain Marie Byrd, who assumed her command in March, noted that “the military is a great equalizer” and that it affords opportunities for both men and women “if they are willing to make the effort.”

Byrd noted that currently on the U.S. Pacific Coast, the U.S. Coast Guard sector commanders at Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle are all women.