When the company only had ocean-going car transporters from Asia to Europe, it was difficult to find alternatives for seafarers who did not want to be away for the 10 to 13 weeks that these voyages took. Nowadays there are two new companies, Wallenius Sol that has five ships with changeovers every four to six weeks, and Lakeway Link on the route between Södertälje and Gdynia i Poland. This makes things easier for staff who want shorter tours of duty.

“Last winter, an employee on one of our ocean-going ships who has several children at home told us that his work situation was no longer possible, so we moved him to one of our ships in the Baltic instead and it has worked out really well,” says Helena Axelsson.

She notes that you have the legal right to reduce your working hours as a parent of young children, but it can be difficult for the shipping company to enable this in practice.

Last winter, an employee on one of our ocean-going ships who has several children at home told us that his work situation was no longer possible

“In order to reduce working hours, there must be someone else in the same situation who can share the post, or three people sharing a post.  Sometimes we have found solutions like this and it has worked, at least for a while,” says Helena Axelsson. 

Another possibility that has been used for a long time at Wallenius is to offer a temporary job at the company’s head office in Stockholm.

“Last year, we had an employee who worked here for a while after his child was born, and a few years ago we had several pregnant women who worked in turns here in the office, but this only works if we have a suitable project for them to work on that matches their skills,” she says. 

When a seafarer becomes pregnant, a risk assessment is made to investigate whether the person in question can continue to work on board during their pregnancy, Helena explains. The risk assessment is carried out with the HR department, the master and the employee.  If necessary, occupational health care is also brought in.  “It is not usually recommended to continue working on board due to vibrations and other factors.  I also feel that pregnant women do not usually want to go to sea, especially on our ocean-going ships, since they are a long way from home if something should happen.  But I think it’s good that these issues are being discussed.  The industry wants to be accessible to everyone, regardless of their gender, and so we need to try to find solutions that work for different stages of life.”