One of the first thing that she noticed in her voyage were that the technologies used onboard were much more advance than what she had seen in her textbooks and that she in fact had much more to learn onboard. Jing Hong also shared that she was one of the few who continued to embark on the path as a sailor after graduating.

To her, it is not the gender that enhances the work environment but the character of the seafarer. “When someone who is positive and brings joy and laughter to the crew signs off, as a team we can feel the difference.”

While she admitted that the female seafarers may be less direct and expressive in conversations as compared to their male counterparts, she feels that everyone regardless, gets equal respect and everyone onboard are always willing to help one another with tasks. The caring culture onboard is evident when the male marine engineers chip in for the more strenuous work.

“It is like a family on board. When we have struggles, we try to reach out and talk to someone about it. We also make it a point to constantly motivate each other,” Jing Hong said.

Despite the various cultural differences and background, she finds more similarities than differences among her peers. “Did you know that Polish eat dumplings, like our dumplings, for Christmas?” Onboard her ship, she is usually the only female officer but she shared that there are actually other female seafarers in the maritime industry and that she is not alone in this journey.

Jing Hong remarked, “When we are sailing, we do not go on land for a long period. Hence, before the pandemic, we all look forward to shore leave. However, the pandemic has put a halt to that. Now that the situation is getting better, companies are slowly allowing us to go on shore. We understand each country and company have their protocol to stay safe. I am sure that soon, shore leave will once again be made available.”