Recent Stories
Insights from Successful Mariners in Offshore Careers
The offshore industry asks a lot of the people who choose it. Long rotations. Demanding work. Time away from home. It is not an easy path, and for many, it can feel like you are figuring it out on your own. At Women Offshore, we hear that often. We also see something...
Women Offshore Ambassador Zanele Mthembu, a Navigation Officer working in the oil and chemical tanker industry
Zanele Mthembu has built her career navigating the demands of the oil and chemical tanker industry, where precision, safety, and decision making under pressure are part of daily life. As a Navigation Officer, her work centers on vessel operations, maritime safety, and...
Ambassador Feature Esra Konak- From Sea to Strategy
Esra Konak, a Master Captain and Women Offshore Ambassador, has built her career in one of the most demanding sectors of shipping, oil and chemical tankers. A graduate of Istanbul Technical University in Maritime Transportation and Management Engineering, she combines...
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...
Featured Sea Stories
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...
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,...
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
Building the Maritime Workforce with Denielle Christensen
In this episode of the Women Offshore Podcast, we speak with Denielle Christensen, Executive Director and CEO of WaveWorks Alliance. Denielle’s career began outside of maritime, but she spent more than two decades immersed in the commercial marine industry through her...
Maritime Action Plan: What It Means for the Future of Maritime Careers
Strategic planning doesn’t always feel visible in day-to-day operations, but it plays a direct role in shaping the future of the maritime industry. In Episode 256 of the Women Offshore Podcast, we speak with Caitlin Hardy, Founder and Managing Director of Ness Sea, a...
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...
WOMEN OFFSHORE MENTORSHIP!
Offshore Lifestyle
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...
Stronger Doesn’t Mean Harder: Why It’s Time to Redefine Resilience at Sea
In Episode 244 of the Women Offshore Podcast, Executive Director Liz Schmidt and Director of Career Development Christine MacMillan sit down for an open and honest conversation about resiliency—and why it may be time to rethink how we talk about it. Resilience is...
Standing the Watch: Navigating Motherhood and a Maritime Career
When Women Offshore Director of Career Programs, Christine MacMillan, received a call to support a ship conversion project in Houma, Louisiana, she didn’t hesitate to step back aboard. Nearly nine years had passed since her steel-toed boots last hit a steel deck. The...
Sailing Strong: Andrew Bruhl on Building Health and Wellness Offshore
Sailing Strong: Andrew Bruhl on Building Health and Wellness Offshore By Christine MacMillan | Women Offshore Blog | Podcast Episode 240 In Episode 240 of the Women Offshore Podcast, Christine MacMillan sits down with Andrew Bruhl, mariner-turned-entrepreneur and...
From classroom to crew: Samantha McCririck’s journey to yachting & yoga, Episode 228
On this episode of the Women Offshore Podcast, we welcome Samantha McCririck, Chief Stewardess, aboard the charter yacht Unbridled. Originally from Newcastle, Australia, Samantha grew up with a deep connection to the ocean, spending her childhood surfing, snorkeling,...
WOULD YOU LET YOUR DAUGHTER JOIN THE MARITIME INDUSTRY? EPISODE 200
We're thrilled to mark our 200th episode milestone at Women Offshore with a special discussion you won't want to miss! Join our Women Offshore team, Ally Cedeno, Cassi Laskowski, and Christine MacMillan, as they dive deep into a question that sparks curiosity and...
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