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Celebrity's hiring of African women deck officers a win-win, Canadian captain says

(Photo: Anne Kalosh)
Maryse Camirand, a licensed captain, praised Celebrity Cruises' recruitment of West African women for bridge jobs
A new Canadian adventure cruise line applauded Celebrity Cruises' recruitment of women bridge officers from West Africa.

'It's a win for the women and for Africa and the school there, and a win for the image of the company,' said Maryse Camirand, vp, Croisières M/S Jacques-Cartier.

Camirand is a licensed captain who also teaches courses at the Maritime Institute of Québec (Institut Maritime du Québec) in Rimouski. She said Ghana's Regional Maritime University, where the Celebrity cadets will be recruited, is a well-regarded institution of international standard.

'We have our place,' Camirand said of women in maritime roles. 'We have to be good, maybe more than a man.'

Twenty-five years ago not so many women pursued such careers in Canada. That has changed. Camirand said the Maritime Institute of Québec's last graduating class included many women, and they are finding maritime jobs.

The family-run Croisières M/S Jacques-Cartier is led by Camirand's husband, president Michel Harvey, the captain of M/S Jacques-Cartier, which is being rebuilt and upgraded to offer adventure cruises on the St. Lawrence starting in 2018. Harvey, a fourth-generation shipowner, is also a licensed marine mechanical engineering officer.

Camirand and Harvey's daughters Rachel, 15, and Amélie, 12, are involved in the new venture, too, and Rachel holds a permit to pilot Zodiacs. The family will live aboard the ship for part of the year.

Unlike many of the West African women Celebrity is recruiting for bridge roles aboard its ships, Camirand said it had not been difficult for her as a Canadian to pursue a maritime career. Originally she studied business.

'I'm an entrepreneur. I see more opportunity than difficulties or obstructions,' she told Seatrade Cruise News.