Belizean Wins Women in Maritime Logo Competition

When the Women in Maritime Association for the Caribbean (WiMAC), announced its logo competition last year, Belizean Nicole Allen, a 16-year veteran in the maritime industry, was eager to enter.

She wanted to show off her artistic skills and to design a logo that represented the women, who work in the industry.

“They wanted a logo that would be reflective of the women in maritime and decided on opening up the competition where everyone across the region could have a say,” the 36-year-old Port of Belize Limited employee told JIS News.

“I instantly thought of a design, which would include the words ‘To chart the course for generations of women in maritime’, a design I felt would highlight the importance of women in maritime,” she added.

The logo was to represent the women across the industry, at all ages and stages of training or career, in seafaring as well as shore-based professions.

Not deterred by the fact that the competition was open to entrants across the region, and encouraged by family, friends and co-workers, Miss Allen submitted her design, which took the top prize.

For her effort, Ms. Allen won an all-expense paid vacation for two to Jamaica, inclusive of airfare, where she stayed at the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort from June 4-7.  Her winning design is now the official design of WiMAC.

In an interview with JIS News, Miss Allen said the vacation coincided with her birthday and that she was grateful to the hotel and host Maritime Association of Jamaica (MAJ) for “the wonderful hospitality”.

“This is my first trip to Jamaica and it certainly will not be my last. WiMAC is a one-year-old organisation whose mission is to highlight the exploits of women in the male-dominated maritime industry in the Caribbean, and Jamaica, through the MAJ, has been one of the main countries aggressively pushing for this,” Ms. Allen explained.

Ms. Allen, who works in the human resource department at the Port of Belize said she first started working in the sector at age 20 and enjoys the challenges and the opportunities that come with the job.

“I have always enjoyed working in the maritime industry…this has been my first love,” she noted. “Although it is a field dominated by men, I have never felt that I didn’t belong and have dreams of going all the way to the top,” she said.

Ms. Allen said she is also encouraged by the fact that two of the top three maritime positions in Belize are run by females. “It is fair to say that women in the maritime sector are making waves within the Caribbean region,” she quipped.

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) launched WiMAC and held the entity’s inaugural conference at the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort in Montego Bay, St. James, in April, 2015.

WiMAC is the seventh Women in Maritime Association worldwide. It comprises 20 countries and territories and works to promote professional and economic development of women in the maritime sector.

Vice President of WIMAC, Karen Mullings, said the organisation’s aim is to further the objectives of the IMO in promoting regional collaboration, and transferring information and knowledge among women within the maritime sector.

Ms. Mullings, who is also the Public Relations Officer for the MAJ, told JIS News that her organisation was happy to host Ms. Allen here in Jamaica, saying it was another example of regional collaboration and a “springboard for training and sustainable development opportunities”.

“We have a five-year strategic plan in WiMAC, which is to ensure Caribbean women are recognised as a key resource for the sustainability of the maritime sector,” Ms. Mullings added.