“What are you doing right here? This job just isn’t meant for you. We’re nonetheless at port. You’ll be able to return house.”
These had been the primary few phrases that Romeeta Bundela heard from her supervisor as she stepped foot on a Maersk ship on her first day at work in December 2017. Being the first Indian feminine Electro Technical Officer (ETO) onboard the service provider vessel, the following 4 months had been removed from clean crusing.
The 29-year-old needed to alter to being on a container vessel for months on finish as an ETO on the Danish delivery and logistics firm. The one girl in a sea of 20 males, she fought prejudices and preconceived notions, and silenced all naysayers by means of her proficiency at work.
A fascination for all times on the ocean made this woman from Bhusawal in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district go for this profession. She has damaged the proverbial glass ceiling ranging from her instructional institute — the Tolani Maritime Institute — the place she was the primary girl ETO candidate.
Over the previous six years, she has grown in ranks, from an ETO to a senior ETO to a junior electrical superintendent. Presently, she is an ETO at Carnival UK, a cruise vacation firm.
Right here’s how Romeeta manages life on the ocean. She shares the way you too may think about a life within the service provider Navy!
Why can’t ladies excel at sea?
Romeeta had dreamed of becoming a member of the Indian Navy for so long as she may bear in mind. Nevertheless, when she couldn’t make it by means of, she started looking for the following greatest various. “I needed to be on a ship and was able to do no matter it took. A 9-5 job just isn’t for me. I needed a job that may permit me to journey the world,” Romeeta tells The Higher India.
After pursuing electrical engineering, she utilized to the Delivery Company of India (SCI) for the place of an ETO. She shares that regardless of getting by means of, their batch was debarred. She then turned to the one with all of the solutions — ‘Google’ — to search for different choices.
It’s right here that she stumbled upon an ETO course on the Tolani Maritime Institute in Pune. This qualification would assist her work in service provider ships. She appeared for the examination, after which she pursued the four-month course in 2017. She was the one girl amongst 40 different college students and the first-ever feminine ETO cadet at Tolani.
This course concerned a four-month coaching on the school adopted by an eight-month coaching on ship. Electrical, electronics, electronics and telecommunication, electronics and communication, and electronics and instrumentation engineers are eligible for the course.
After finishing the course, Romeeta joined Maersk. “I used to be the first Indian girl to affix the delivery firm on this place,” shares Romeeta with delight.
An ETO, or electrical officer, is accountable for all electrical, digital, and management and automation methods onboard. Additionally they handle reefers (cargo) on container vessels, explains the seafarer. In easy phrases, they deal with each electrical wire or cable.
“They [ETOs] are an important a part of the staff as every thing is getting automated together with all methods onboard. We deal with electrical and electronics tools, energy administration system, management and automation system, marine and deck security tools, lighting system, together with refrigeration and air flow,” she provides.
Breaking the glass ‘sea’ling on worldwide waters
It is not uncommon data that the lifetime of a seafarer is troublesome. Being on a ship for 3 to 4 months, away from household and associates, with motion restricted to the vessel isn’t any joke.
Romeeta recollects her first expertise on a ship at Maersk. Her first contract was for 4 months and started from Singapore on a service provider vessel with 20 males. As talked about earlier, she obtained a chilly welcome even earlier than she may place her suitcase in her cabin.
“My supervisor had by no means seen a girl on this function. He was actually dominating and saved telling me that I couldn’t do that job. It was extraordinarily demotivating. Think about listening to this on a regular basis! I survived the 4 months and proved him unsuitable by means of my work,” shares the ETO.
She proudly shares that on the finish of her first contract, the identical supervisor who had initially judged her carried out her appraisal. He gave her a superb advice and informed her, “I used to be unsuitable to evaluate you with out seeing your work.”
As I interviewed Romeeta, I used to be pressured to ponder how water has no ceiling, however even there, males have constructed a glass ceiling, which she efficiently broke. “What gave you the energy and fortitude to face this?” I ask.
“Different colleagues had been good to me to my face however all of them thought that I used to be not succesful simply due to my gender. Isn’t this the downside confronted by ladies on land jobs too? All you are able to do is focus and work onerous,” she replies.
By conserving her chin up and specializing in excelling at her job, she silenced all her critics. Ladies can do every thing, she proved, relatively emphatically.
Her greatest problem, she says, got here amid the pandemic when she was caught at sea for over 9 months in China. In March 2020, she was on a cargo vessel, and with flights grounded, they needed to keep on board and proceed working. “We had been caught in China and needed to put on PPE kits, coveralls, and masks. Life was hell as we had no flights again house. It was psychological torture for all of us on board,” she shares.
Past this, being on sea undoubtedly comes with challenges, as you must work within the engine room in 50-55 centigrade temperatures! “It’s particularly difficult throughout your ‘intervals’. However I imagine that you must work onerous to succeed in the highest. A seafarer is a seafarer, it doesn’t have a gender,” she says.
Her means to rise above challenges led to speedy development in her profession, as she progressed from ETO to senior ETO to electrical superintendent in simply 4 years.
‘At simply 26, I dealt with 64 vessels’
“I used to be the primary girl superintendent in Maersk and in addition the youngest one at 26. I dealt with 64 vessels and offered electrical assist and distant decision. I used to be accountable for varied initiatives comparable to LED lights in vessels,” she says.
After her time at Maersk, she joined Carnival UK in 2023 because the third ETO within the cruise business. In contrast to a service provider vessel, which generally has solely 21 workers, cruise ships have bigger groups that embody ladies, providing them extra alternatives for interplay and quite a lot of leisure actions. Moreover, her stint onboard is simply three months, in comparison with the 4 months required on a service provider vessel.
Serving on the Britannia, she has been in a position to fulfil her want of travelling to totally different nations. “I’ve been part of Norwegian and Baltic cruises. There may be additionally a winter Caribbean cruise which is gorgeous. I’ve visited Barbados, Antigua, the Center East, and Europe. What I really like about my job is that it offers me the chance to discover totally different components of the world. You get to attempt native cuisines, perceive cultures and far more. Our cruise itself has folks from 65 nationalities.” says Romeeta, including that she hopes to get promoted to the primary ETO quickly on the ship.
For a woman who had by no means stepped out of her consolation zone in Jalgaon, she is at present a world traveller difficult societal norms and smashing gender stereotypes.
What’s her recommendation for ladies who wish to think about a profession at sea? “Don’t take heed to what others say. Folks may say, ‘You’re a lady, what are you able to do?’. Don’t get demotivated and simply focus in your profession. You are able to do every thing {that a} man can do, and extra,” she remarks.
Romeeta shares suggestions for a profession within the maritime business on her Instagram channel, which you’ll take a look at right here.
Edited by Pranita Bhat, Photos Courtesy Romeeta Bundela
