Every year since 2017, Spinnaker publishes the UK gender pay gap report ahead of the gender pay gap reporting deadline in April. UK-based organisations with 250 or more employees must report and publish their gender pay gap information. Our own analysis of gender pay gap in maritime is calculated using the shore-based salary survey results we conduct annually for the Maritime HR Association.

Maritime HR Association (MHRA) is a members club including 118 shipowners, shipmanagers and oil majors. Aside from gender analysis, our members get access to exclusive salary and market analysis reports across the world and various maritime job families.

In 2025, the Spinnaker gender pay gap report included data from over 2,000 UK shore-based positions with the mean gender pay gap in 2025 reaching 37.91%, while the median gender pay gap was 36.46%. In comparison, the overall all industry UK gender pay gaps in 2025 were 13.40% and 12.80% respectively. This is about 25% lower than the MHRA mean gender pay gap and 24% lower than the MHRA median.

If we look at the MHRA values in more detail, though, we can understand the possible reasons as to what drove such a big discrepancy between the maritime sector and the aggregated UK data.

In 2025, similar to all previous years since the report inception in 2017, the proportion of females in most junior maritime roles was more than a half (60% in 2025); however, the female representation decreased with increasing seniority, to the point where only 16% of women worked as ‘Heads’ or ‘Directors’ in 2025.

The same tendency can be observed in the EU as well. In 2025, we included a separate EU gender pay gap section in our report, as the EU Pay Transparency Directive urged member states to calculate their pay gaps. The aggregated data of Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sweden became a source of our analysis in the EU area. It showed that 15% of women were employed in the most senior maritime positions, compared to 62% of females in junior / trainee roles.

Of course, it has to be noted that different member states have different policies that can impact the employment structure, however the almost equal proportions in both the UK and the EU highlight a wider trend: less women than men reach higher-paid senior roles.

Splash commented on the issue in its 2025 article “Why true change for women at sea demands more than policy” that the question nowadays is no longer how to bring women to sea but how to rebuild shipping so that they stay[1].

Indeed, continuously smaller percentages of women in high-seniority positions might be due to them not staying in the industry long enough. Chirag Bhari from the charity ISWAN and Steven Jones, the Founder of the Seafarers Happiness Index, agree that the lack or insufficiency of supportive policies around maternity, marriage and flexible shore opportunities create working conditions that female maritime professionals don’t find attractive or sustainable[1].

However, despite a need for further changes to boost female inclusion, some positive changes can already be seen.

For example, compared to 2017, the MHRA mean gender pay gap in the UK lowered by 8.49%, and the median pay gap decreased by 9.24%. This means that a change in current is already happening. More shipping companies are creating structured career continuity, aligning culture with compliance, so professionalism outweighs prejudice.

At sea, female representation is steadily increasing, too. Noatun Maritime, for example, is aiming to increase female proportion on their vessels by 10% in 2026 whilst Wilhelmsen Ship Management has set a 10% target for female cadet intake[1]. For shore-based gender distribution it might mean that there will be more women with prior seagoing experience which aids their transition to higher-paid jobs ashore (e.g., technical & marine or newbuildings).

At Spinnaker, we are convinced that creating inclusive, safe and fair environments in maritime will benefit everyone in the future.

Need help with analysing your gender pay gap? Contact Spinnaker’s HR Consulting team for details on how they can help.

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[1] Lepic, B.. Chambers, S.(ed.) (2025). Why true change for women at sea demands more than policy. Seafarers Report 2025 by Splash, 39-43.