More Women are Demanding Space in Belize’s Maritime Industry

At just twenty-eight years old, Jaeda Sutherland is helping to steer a shift in Belize’s maritime industry, one that is opening doors for more women to take the helm. There’s a quiet shift happening in the maritime industry and women like Sutherland are steering it. As President of the Women in Maritime Association of the Caribbean (WiMAC), Belize Chapter, Sutherland stood alongside fellow industry leaders today, pushing a conversation that’s long overdue: how to break barriers in a field still largely dominated by men. For them, it’s not just about getting more women into maritime careers, it’s about keeping them there, elevating them, and changing the industry from within.

 

“Men who have been in the industry for over thirty years have looked at me and asked, how is it that you are even my captain. They are brave like that.”

 

While veteran captain Monique Lamb captivated the room with stories from her trailblazing journey at sea, another woman stood nearby, quietly charting her own course. At just twenty-eight, Jaeda Sutherland is stepping into a leadership role, carrying the momentum of Lamb’s legacy forward and pushing for more women to find their place in the maritime industry. At the Women in Maritime Conference, the torch clearly changed hands. Lamb shared her hard-won lessons breaking barriers, while Sutherland took the lead, focused, driven, and ready to push women forward in a male-dominated industry.

 

Jaeda Sutherland, President, WiMAC

“I did not study anything that had to do with maritime. I started with literature at SJCJC, totally unrelated to my current profession right now.”

 

Jaeda Sutherland leads the Projects and Quality Unit at the Belize Port Authority and also serves as president of the Women in Maritime Association, Belize Chapter. She works in a male-dominated field under Ports Commissioner Kaylon Young.

 

Kaylon Young, Ports Commissioner, Belize Port Authority

“Having more people involved, more women involved gives a different dynamicity to how we see things, a different point of view to how we see things. We might see things, males might see things different than how females see things, our way of management, our way of operations.”

 

“Life will bring challenges, rough seas, moments of uncertainty, but those moments are not there to break you.”

 

WiMAC leads advocacy and networking for women in maritime, where they remain vastly underrepresented. Globally, women make up about one percent of seafarers. In the Caribbean, more work ashore, sixty-three percent in the private sector and nineteen percent in maritime authorities, while just one to two percent hold seagoing roles operating vessels.

 

Jaeda Sutherland

“The power of a woman’s voice is becoming heavier and heavier. Previously we had joined this sector and we were very quiet in terms of not being in the forefront of all of it. Now, we have been trying to push ourselves, trying to get into leadership, and trying to get at seat at the table especially. That is very important for me and something I always promote, try to get a seat at the table where the decisions are actually being made.”

 

Today, at such a young age, with only four years of experience in the sector, Sutherland has created a seat at the table alongside her WiMAC executive. At today’s event, association members cast themselves as changemakers, determined to break barriers in a male-dominated industry.

 

“Some ask, do you know how to check an engine, fix the oil, are you afraid to navigate at night?”

 

Jaeda Sutherland

“For me I really jumped into it with the mindset that us females, anything a man can do, we can do, sometimes even better.”

 

From studying literature in junior college, today Sutherland is pursuing a master’s degree in Logistics and Supply Chain Management. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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