Nothing will work without her. She meets major challenges with innovative solutions. She makes sure goods are moved around the world efficiently. But she can’t do it without her crew – which includes more and more women. Yet, in this respect the industry still has a lot of catching up to do. This is where our new DS article series comes in: it focuses on women in maritime jobs. Role models who inspire.
You can be whatever you want: Fanny Löwenstrom grew up hearing this mantra. “My father always encouraged me to think outside the ‘bubble’,” says the Stuttgart native. Löwenstrom believes that this was emphasised sufficiently at school. “The general thinking was: girls do this, boys do that – but young women in particular need to be encouraged to go their own way.”
Just do it, be open – and take the risk of occasional failure: that’s okay. Armed with this attitude, Löwenstrom signed up for voluntary military service at the navy in 2016. She spent six months at sea on board the frigate “Mecklenburg-Vorpommern” as part of the refugee rescue mission “Sophia”. A formative experience for the then 21-year-old: “Every one of us has to carry her or his own baggage – but for those people, it really was a matter of survival. That changed my world view.” And it influenced her career, as well.
If I don’t like something, I speak up – and then it’s settled.
Fanny Löwenstrom
No room for prejudice
From 2019 to 2023, she studied social work in Hamburg and completed her bachelor’s degree. She was also working as a mooring attendant at the port, where it took quite an effort to overcome prejudices. “At the beginning, I was ridiculed by a few colleagues – there are still people who have problems accepting women in male-dominated jobs.” However, the 28-year-old was not one to be deterred: “If I don’t like something, I speak up – and then it’s settled,” she says, laughing. Still, one needs a thick skin: “They’ve worked without women for years – their jargon hasn’t changed. One mustn’t take that personally.”
Löwenstrom quickly got over the feeling of having to prove herself – in part because she knows that there are things she can do better than her male colleagues. Especially when working with her only female mooring colleague and namesake, Fanny von Behr: “The pilots once praised us vis-á-vis management: When they work with us, communication simply works better and without grumbling.”
Löwenstrom also notices that women bring calm and a different tone to her job as operations manager at the shipping company Fairplay: “I plan which tugs should go where and when, allocating capacities and optimising processes,” says Löwenström. This goes down well with the team itself, but she sometimes senses reservations from customers. Women who know what they want are often perceived as “high-strung” or a threat, Löwenstrom reports. “There are still a lot of old-fashioned structures in shipping – and not everything about that is bad,” she emphasises, “but there are things that have changed and people should to accept that – things like women in supposedly male jobs.”
Outside the comfort zone
To drive change, she calls for the shipping industry to work on its visibility. “We also need to raise awareness of available maritime jobs. Of what is possible, especially for young women.” She herself can see that many women aren’t confident enough. “You don’t have to be Hercules to be a moorer: shipping has moved on. There are technical devices women can use to make their work more manageable – another fact that needs to be communicated more.”
Get out of your comfort zone and venture into shipping – it’s worth it, is her message. “Once you’ve tasted it, you don’t want to miss it.” While in her office job she does miss the balmy summer nights at the port enjoying countless sunrises and sunsets from Athabaskakai, the port is still close enough – it’s practically at her feet, looking down from the Fairplay office on the 14th floor, not far from Hamburg’s “Michel” cathedral.
Fanny Löwenstrom
AGE 28 years
WORKS FOR Fairplay Towage Group
MARITIME EXPERIENCE Navy, mooring manager, operations manager
GOAL To inspire young women to work in the shipping industry and drive personal development
