From ship captains to educators, WiMAC celebrates the women steering the industry forward
THE maritime industry is one of many growing sectors in Guyana, and the Women in Maritime Association Caribbean (WiMAC), Guyana Chapter Inc., is working to ensure that women’s voices are heard among all the buzz surrounding the sector. Most recently, WiMAC hosted its inaugural Gala and Awards Ceremony under the theme “An Ocean of Opportunities for Women: Anchoring Excellence” at the Guyana Marriott Hotel, Georgetown, on Friday, June 20. The prestigious event brought together leading voices in maritime to celebrate the achievements and contributions of women across the sector.

Held in honour of the trailblazing women working both locally and internationally within the maritime industry, the event recognised their unwavering commitment to excellence and continuous development. President of WiMAC’s Guyana Chapter, Katina Benn, spoke to Pepperpot Magazine this week about the importance of celebrating exceptional maritime women and the work that WiMAC is doing for women in the maritime sector.
April of this year saw WiMAC open fourteen award categories for nominations, recognising diverse areas of excellence across the maritime sector. Fourteen visionary women were honoured as the 2025 awardees in each category:
• Maritime Leadership Award – Romona Arthur
• Executive of the Year – Briony Tiwarie-Gabriel
• Port Management Excellence Award – Nalini Jamuna
• Outstanding Female Ship Captain – Sabita Sookdeo
• Sustainable Maritime Champion – Dawn Maison
• Blue Economy Advocate – Donnette Streete
• STEM in Maritime Award – Shania Stewart
• Mentor of the Year – Annette Arjoon-Martins
• Diversity & Inclusion Champion – Miranda Thakur-Deen
• Maritime Educator of the Year – Coleen Denyse Abrams
• Exemplary Seafarer Award – Rebecca Samuels
• Maritime Safety Advocate – Sherry-Ann Wilson
• Shipping & Logistics Innovator – Keisha Hack
• Women-Owned Maritime Business Award – Kerensa Bart
The Executive Council of WiMAC also recognised and honoured Thandi McAllister as the Maritime Ambassador for her continued advocacy and excellence in maritime stewardship.
Recounting what inspired the award ceremony, Benn shared: “We really wanted to create something that is different for women in the sector and that will really shed light on some of the women we have in the sector and some of the things that they do. That’s how the current executive came up with the award ceremony.” She added, “We thought that by coming up with this, persons would become more engaged with WiMAC and then of course they’re going to be more interested maybe in some of the careers. Because when you see the different women who were nominated, you might be like, ‘Oh, this is a career in maritime, and this is something I can pursue.’”
The event highlighted the impact of women in maritime, with Benn and her team receiving dozens of nominations. The various categories sought to honour women in every facet of maritime work, something that Benn says was vital to the event and WiMAC. “We were the body deciding who would have been the awardee. We went through that process, which was a very tedious process because we also sought to develop the different metrics for the various categories. For instance, let’s say you have a category with maritime in STEM and then there’s another one with leadership in maritime, you can’t use the same metrics, because they’re different positions in the maritime sector,” she said.
The gala and award ceremony is just one of the many things that WiMAC is doing to not just celebrate, but educate women about the opportunities and avenues in maritime. Highlighting the work they have done and its impact, Benn shared: “We’ve had a tremendous change, particularly earlier this year, when we became more outright in reaching out to persons, more active in our social media campaigns and more focused on gaining membership that is not only public-sector oriented but also private-sector,” she said.
This has had a positive effect, with more women now seeking to be part of WiMAC than ever before, and the organisation’s reach expanding to the private sector. “Initially, when WiMAC Guyana started, we started with members from just the public sector because those were the women who helped form it. But I’m glad to say that now we’ve extended that and we include the private sector, because we know that public-private sector participation and collaboration is very, very important to what we do in maritime,” Benn said.
And WiMAC does not plan on stopping the momentum they currently have. With a number of events planned for the rest of 2025, Benn and her team are focused on introducing careers in maritime to schools. Shedding light on some of the organisation’s upcoming events, Benn shared: “Next month we are going to be having the inaugural Nautical Children’s Club. This is where we’ll do a week of training with children aged 7 to 11, and we’re going to be introducing the maritime sector to them.” She further added, “Like I said, we’re big on reaching women, and generally everyone, at the younger level. We have to be strategic in what we’re doing, and we find if you reach them from this level, we’ll be seeing more maritime careers on career days. Because you don’t really see that.”
For Benn and her team at WiMAC Guyana, long-term goals are simple, but once achieved, can be ground-breaking. “A long-term goal would be to generally have a larger percent of women involved in the industry. To date, the technical women only account for 1.2% of a workforce of maybe a hundred and something thousand seafarers.” She further added: “More women participation in the sector is the long-term goal. Like I said, having the career as an option from an early age is important. What we embed into our children at an early age—that the maritime sector is here and this is how you make the connection between oil and gas and the maritime sector—that is very, very essential for how far WiMAC will go with female participation.”
WiMAC Guyana, although devoted to on-the-ground, hands-on work, is much larger than Guyana. Joining WiMAC is more than just training and insight—it’s a platform for networking, empowerment and growth. As Benn shared: “WiMAC is a much larger initiative than just Guyana. When it comes to shipping and the maritime sector, having a professional network of women that you can relate to, that you can correspond with, that you share similar stories with, is essential for growth for any woman in the sector.”