On 27 October 2021, Ultranav signed an institutional collaboration agreement with WISTA Chile, with the objective of contributing to the development of projects and activities that promote and strengthen the empowerment of women in the national maritime sector. The agreement establishes collaborative relationships between both entities, which will be materialised in the execution of academic development programmes, exchange of experience and information, as well as the joint conduct of research.
WISTA Chile was founded three years ago with the support of Ultranav. In the beginning, only 13 women joined to be part of the international association WISTA, which has been recognised as a consulting member by organisations such as IMO, Cepal, UN Women, etc. WISTA International is present in more than 54 countries and has more than 3,800 members worldwide. One of the main objectives of this association is to give visibility to women professionals in the shipping, logistics and foreign trade industries. WISTA Chile now has 30 members in Chile and 7 of them belong to the Ultranav group.
The signing of the agreement, held at Ultranav’s offices in Santiago de Chile, took place in parallel with the celebration of the third anniversary of WISTA Chile, and was attended by almost all its members and executives of the shipping company. The idea of formalising this agreement is to continue strengthening and accompanying WISTA Chile on this journey. They all have their main activity and invest part of their time in developing this association, which is a double merit. In general, Chile is a country where the shipping activity is not one of the main activities, therefore, anything that attracts and develops more talents who like the industry is welcome. This agreement is very important to continue the path of inclusiveness that will give sustainability to this industry.
The collaboration agreement also includes the use of meeting rooms at Ultranav’s premises for monthly and annual meetings of WISTA Chile’s Board of Directors, as well as seminars that may be held in the future. In addition, WISTA Chile’s projects and activities will be promoted and disseminated among Ultranav’s collaborators.
The agreement signing ceremony was also attended by Dag Von Appen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ultranav; Jan Vermeij, CEO of Ultranav; Raimundo Sánchez, CEO of Ultranav Chile; Bernd Von Malapert, Industrial Business Manager; Cristián Lyon, CEO Ultratug; Sergio Vial, General Manager of Human Resources of Ultranav, and Francisca Fajuri, Senior Manager of Personnel Administration and Organizational Development of Ultranav.