Recent Stories
Christy Nandlal: A Global Career in Marine Seismic Operations and Leadership at Sea
Christy Nandlal has spent nearly two decades working across the world’s oceans supporting complex geophysical operations. As a Chief Field Geophysicist, her career has taken her from the Gulf of Mexico to the North Sea, contributing to marine seismic exploration and...
Finding Each Other Offshore: Why One Mariner Built a Forum for Connection
Time offshore can be isolating. Long hitches, rotating crews, and limited communication with people back home are part of the job. Especially for those in the queer community, the maritime industry can often feel isolating and alone. But for some mariners, that...
Five Days at Sea Changed How I See Seafarers
Working at Women Offshore, I spend my days focused on supporting women in maritime careers, but like many people shoreside, my understanding of life at sea has largely come through the stories others share. That shifted on a recent trip. My family and I recently...
Dr. Anna Weerakoon Karunatilleke: Marine Consultant Advancing Innovation and Leadership in Maritime Engineering
Dr. Anna Weerakoon Karunatilleke has built a career at the intersection of maritime engineering, shipyard operations, and strategic leadership. As a marine consultant, entrepreneur, and educator, she brings both technical expertise and a forward-looking perspective to...
Ade Solorzano: Chief Mate Advocating for Safety, Visibility, and the Next Generation of Women at Sea
Ade Solorzano understands firsthand what it means to build a maritime career in spaces where women are still underrepresented. As a Chief Mate with Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, she has spent years navigating the operational demands of life at sea while developing...
Benefit Gala Raises Over $100,000 to Support Careers on the Water
Houston, TX — February 2025 — Women Offshore Foundation is proud to announce the successful conclusion of its annual Benefit Gala, which raised over $100,000 to support its mission of strengthening careers on the water. Held on February 7, the evening drew a full room...
Featured Sea Stories
Ade Solorzano: Chief Mate Advocating for Safety, Visibility, and the Next Generation of Women at Sea
Ade Solorzano understands firsthand what it means to build a maritime career in spaces where women are still underrepresented. As a Chief Mate with Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, she has spent years navigating the operational demands of life at sea while developing...
From Divemaster to Dive Safety Officer: Kim Malkoski’s Career Underwater
By Liz Schmidt | Women Offshore Blog | Podcast Episode 252 Scientific diving is a specialized discipline that blends operational precision, safety management, and marine research. In Episode 252 of the Women Offshore Podcast, we speak with Kim Malkoski, Assistant...
Trailblazer Feature: Spyridoula Zova
From First Responder to Offshore Paramedic, Following the Call Beyond Fear Spyridoula Zova’s career didn’t begin with a long-term plan or a childhood dream of emergency medicine. It began on the side of a road. As a first-year Business Administration student in...
From Idea to Impact: Celebrating 250 Episodes of the Women Offshore Podcast
By Liz Schmidt & Christine MacMillan | Women Offshore Blog | Podcast Episode 250 Episode 250 of the Women Offshore Podcast marks a major milestone, not just in episode count, but in the evolution of Women Offshore itself. In this special episode, Executive...
Racing Around the World & Changing It: Meg Reilly on Leadership and Impact
By Liz Schmidt | Women Offshore Blog | Podcast Episode 249 In Episode 249 of the Women Offshore Podcast, Women Offshore Executive Director Liz Schmidt sits down live at METSTRADE in Amsterdam with Meg Reilly, circumnavigator, sustainability leader, and global...
From Deck Cadet Inspiration to ROV Pilot: The Evolving Journey of Nicole Marcer
Nicole Marcer’s path into offshore operations began with a single conversation in 2012. She met a woman working as a deck cadet, and for the first time, she saw someone who looked like her in a world she had never imagined herself entering. That moment planted a seed...
Navigate Your Career
Start Here
Start Here: Navigating Your Career with Women Offshore Leadership For many mariners entering the industry, the biggest challenge isn’t just getting started—it’s knowing where to find guidance along the way. In this episode of the Women Offshore Podcast, Executive...
New Year, New Job? Knowing When It’s Time for a Change
Career change is rarely sudden. More often, it begins quietly, with a feeling that something no longer fits, even if it once did. Across the Women Offshore community, many professionals shared that their decision to make a change was not driven by failure, but by...
Trailblazer Feature: Spyridoula Zova
From First Responder to Offshore Paramedic, Following the Call Beyond Fear Spyridoula Zova’s career didn’t begin with a long-term plan or a childhood dream of emergency medicine. It began on the side of a road. As a first-year Business Administration student in...
Career Moves and Risks That were Absolutely Worth it
Some of the most defining career decisions feel uncomfortable in the moment they are made. Febronia (Nellie) Shigwedha, an electrician with Southey Contracting Offshore Division, reflects on the risk of entering the marine electrical field knowing she would often be...
From Deck Cadet Inspiration to ROV Pilot: The Evolving Journey of Nicole Marcer
Nicole Marcer’s path into offshore operations began with a single conversation in 2012. She met a woman working as a deck cadet, and for the first time, she saw someone who looked like her in a world she had never imagined herself entering. That moment planted a seed...
Ask an Ambassador
By Christine MacMillan | Women Offshore Blog | Podcast Episode 247 In Episode 247 of the Women Offshore Podcast, we’re sharing the audio from a previously recorded Ask an Ambassador event hosted by Women Offshore Executive Director Liz Schmidt. This conversation...
Podcast
Moving Mariners Worldwide: A Conversation with Chris Martin of Wings Global Travel
When offshore operations run smoothly, it’s often because the logistics behind them are working just as efficiently. In Episode 255 of the Women Offshore Podcast, we speak with Chris Martin of Wings Global Travel, a global travel management company that supports crew...
Resolve Marine: Global Maritime Response and Offshore Expertise
The maritime industry relies on specialized expertise when complex challenges arise offshore. From emergency response and salvage operations to environmental protection and offshore project support, the work often happens behind the scenes but plays a critical role in...
Start Here
Start Here: Navigating Your Career with Women Offshore Leadership For many mariners entering the industry, the biggest challenge isn’t just getting started—it’s knowing where to find guidance along the way. In this episode of the Women Offshore Podcast, Executive...
From Divemaster to Dive Safety Officer: Kim Malkoski’s Career Underwater
By Liz Schmidt | Women Offshore Blog | Podcast Episode 252 Scientific diving is a specialized discipline that blends operational precision, safety management, and marine research. In Episode 252 of the Women Offshore Podcast, we speak with Kim Malkoski, Assistant...
Project Mayflower: Preserving Maritime History Through Storytelling
By Christine MacMillan  | Women Offshore Blog | Podcast Episode 251 Maritime history shapes the foundation of global trade, exploration, and seafaring culture, yet many of its most significant stories risk fading with time. In Women Offshore Podcast Episode 251, we...
From Idea to Impact: Celebrating 250 Episodes of the Women Offshore Podcast
By Liz Schmidt & Christine MacMillan | Women Offshore Blog | Podcast Episode 250 Episode 250 of the Women Offshore Podcast marks a major milestone, not just in episode count, but in the evolution of Women Offshore itself. In this special episode, Executive...
WOMEN OFFSHORE MENTORSHIP!
Offshore Lifestyle
Finding Each Other Offshore: Why One Mariner Built a Forum for Connection
Time offshore can be isolating. Long hitches, rotating crews, and limited communication with people back home are part of the job. Especially for those in the queer community, the maritime industry can often feel isolating and alone. But for some mariners, that...
Start Here
Start Here: Navigating Your Career with Women Offshore Leadership For many mariners entering the industry, the biggest challenge isn’t just getting started—it’s knowing where to find guidance along the way. In this episode of the Women Offshore Podcast, Executive...
Love Is in the Sea Air
There’s something about salt air that makes everything feel more honest. Maybe it’s the way the wind strips things down to what matters. Maybe it’s the long watches, the night skies offshore, or the quiet moments leaning on a rail at sunrise. Out here, relationships...
Surviving the Holidays at Sea: Finding Joy Far From Shore
For many mariners, the holiday season is not spent around a family table, beside a decorated tree, or bundled up against winter traditions. Instead, it unfolds across steel decks, long shifts, ocean horizons, and time zones that blur together. Yet even far from shore,...
Ask an Ambassador
By Christine MacMillan | Women Offshore Blog | Podcast Episode 247 In Episode 247 of the Women Offshore Podcast, we’re sharing the audio from a previously recorded Ask an Ambassador event hosted by Women Offshore Executive Director Liz Schmidt. This conversation...
From Cadet to Chief Mate: How Max Kantor Is Navigating Leadership, Integrity, and Life at Sea
For Max Kantor, the maritime industry isn’t just a career; it’s part of her DNA. Growing up in the harbors of Long Beach and Los Angeles, Max spent her childhood surrounded by ships and dockside operations. Her parents both worked in the port where they met, her...
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