Qualitative data sheds light on how the lack of standardised practices puts pregnant seafarers’ safety and careers at risk
The creation and communication of clear processes and policies for handling pregnancy at sea could become a recruitment tool for maritime companies
12 November 2025, Manila – Investing in a clearer and better supported pregnancy experience for women, before, during and after a pregnancy can give maritime companies a powerful retention advantage, according to a new report from the All Aboard Alliance.
Based on interviews with 15 female seafarers of varying nationalities, ages, seniorities, and vessel types, Pregnancy at sea: From hidden risk to retention edge reveals how pregnancy among seafarers is still often handled through improvised and inconsistent practices, leaving many women feeling isolated and anxious and creating unnecessary risks to their safety, well-being, and careers. It also shows how simple, proven measures could transform this rarely acknowledged aspect of life at sea into a retention opportunity for the industry.
“Pregnancy is a natural part of life, yet at sea it too often becomes a source of fear, stress, and uncertainty,” says Susanne Justesen, Director of Human Sustainability at the Global Maritime Forum. “No woman should have to choose between starting a family and continuing her career at sea. With the right structures in place, pregnancy can be handled safely and confidently, ensuring that women are supported, crews are prepared, and the industry retains the talent it so urgently needs.”
The report identifies seven distinct stages of pregnancy at sea:
Prior, when there is often no clear information on rights or options
Discovery, when confirming a pregnancy can be difficult or unsafe
Disclosure, when they must decide if and how to tell their employer
Working while pregnant, when duty adjustments are rarely formalised
Repatriation, often abrupt and unplanned
Leave, when income typically ends and protections are unclear
Returning to work, when structured pathways back to sea are missing, leaving many excluded from the profession.
Using anecdotal evidence from the interviews, the report first outlines the current state of each of these stages and then describes the better state, all with the aim of helping companies understand the challenges and know where to start in addressing them.
According to the report, many female seafarers are currently left to rely on secrecy, luck, or the goodwill of individual captains and managers, forcing them to conceal their situation. Without clear processes in place around maternity pay or a long-term pathway back to work, financial insecurity and career uncertainty were common among interviewees:
“Nobody is talking about being pregnant on board. We have lots of toolbox talks about safety, lots of drills, emergency audits, but pregnancy is a taboo topic.”
“As soon as you’re not on the boat, you’re not being paid, so I didn’t tell anyone.”
“The biggest challenge was, I think, making the decision to walk away from seafaring because, well, I also loved it.”
The challenges described in the report are stark, but the solutions are simple. Measures already in use in parts of the industry can make a decisive difference: weekly risk checks, modest duty adjustments, and personalised voyage lengths allow women to work safely into their pregnancies where possible. Planned repatriation, continuity of pay, and defined re-entry pathways reduce attrition and help women return with pride and confidence.
What undermines safety, the report concludes, is not pregnancy itself but the uncertainty created by unclear procedures and income risks that drive women into secrecy. By flipping this on its head, maritime companies have the chance to not only create a safer onboard environment, but also to retain their female employees and attract more top female talent to an otherwise male-dominated industry facing a skilled labour shortage.
To guide this shift, the report recommends five questions maritime leaders should ask themselves to move their companies and the industry forward:
Is pregnancy openly acknowledged and supported in our company culture?
Do our crews know what to do if they or a colleague becomes pregnant?
When a crew member first suspects they are pregnant, can they confirm it and get advice without risk or delay?
After they disclose, does support rely on individual goodwill, or on a process everyone can trust?
Is there a credible, supported route back to sea that involves the seafarer’s wishes?