Starting off the session was 4^th Engineer Nur Fadhiilah from Shell, who shared her sailing experiences as a young female seafarer and how she overcame challenges such as discrimination, juggling between sea and shore life, and providing advice on adapting to life onboard to prepare the aspiring seafarers for what is coming ahead of them. Captain Muhammad Tashriq from MPA, who recently transitioned to a shore-based job, inspired the crowd with his story of overcoming the setbacks he faced while pursuing being a Master Mariner. He also further shared how his sailing experience has helped manage his work better and the struggles faced due to lack of knowledge in certain areas.

Besides having the first-hand knowledge of a seafaring career and progression back ashore, the youth also get to learn about the current digital maritime technologies, which help increase productivity in the maritime industry. Ms Neo Jia Ling from MPA explained some of the technologies that Singapore is using, which allow a smoother transition of the vessel and optimise the port stay whenever it calls at Singapore port.