Next Thursday in 11 Italian ports will be held the presentation of the book "Women on the bridge. Thirty years of history and stories of the professionals of the sea", published by Mursia, which tells the other half of the sea, the of women working in shipping, trading and of logistics. It was written by the members of Wista Italy, the Italian section of Women International Shipping and Trading Association, which this year celebrates thirty years of activity of the association founded in Genoa in 1994.

Through the testimonies of the nine presidents of Wista Italy that have followed one another in three decades, the book crosses the efforts and the commitment to make room for itself in a sector that still weighs heavily today prejudices, first of all that those of the sea "not are jobs for women" because they were traditionally related to physical strength. In the second part of the volume, on the other hand, the voices of the members to be heard. They are women who occupy positions top management: shipowners, entrepreneurs, managers, captains and officers who tell their stories with a goal, to inspire other women to take the sea route which offers job opportunities on board, in ports, in logistics, in the armed forces. The third and final part is dedicated to the numbers of the gender gap with a contribution by Greta Tellarini, professor of maritime law and one of the president of WISTA Italy, Costanza Musso.

It is, Costanza Musso anticipated, "a book choral that finally gives voice to Italian professionals of the sea, their careers and their professional and wants to shed light on a problem: in the maritime world we are very far from gender equality. For the good of all the we must take charge of it. In the maritime sector - has highlighted Musso - we are still a long way from achieving gender equality: seafarers as women worldwide they are only 2% out of about two million employees; women who work on the ground are instead 29%. In Italy the situation is not the proportion of women working in ports and ground services is 6.7%, the percentage of women is better engaged in the Port System Authorities, 46%. Too bad that since 1994, the year of the port reform, out of a hundred presidents we have had only two women at the top of the Authorities. On the other hand, the data of Italian women embarked as commanders or officers, even if thanks to the data provided from the Mercantile Academy we know that in the three-year period 2020-2023 the officer cadets were 12%. But how many of them have since taken the Via del Mare?".

On Thursday the book will also be presented at Monaco at the "Monaco Yacht Show" where numerous members of Wista Italy are meeting to participate in this important fair.