Sexists blamed me for blocking Suez Canal... but I was 370km away
EGYPT’S first female ship captain told yesterday how sexist trolls blamed her for blocking the Suez Canal – even though she was 370km away.
Marwa Elselehdar was on a different vessel when the 216,000-ton container ship Ever Given became wedged sideways in the canal on March 23.
But within days of the grounding, rumours began spreading on social media blaming the 29-year-old.
In fact, at the time she was first mate in command of the Aida IV in the Egyptian port city of Alexandria, preparing to run supplies to lighthouses.
Yesterday, she blamed sexism for the lies that threatened to derail her career, telling the BBC: ‘I was shocked.
‘I felt I might be targeted because I’m a successful female in this field or because I’m Egyptian. People in our society don’t accept the idea of girls working in the sea away from their families for a long time.
‘But when you do what you love, it is not necessary to seek the approval of everyone.’
Only 2% of seafarers are women, the International Maritime Organisation says. When Ms Elselehdar applied to enrol at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, which only accepted men, it took a legal review by the then president, Hosni Mubarak, to let her join.
Despite enduring sexism during her studies, she rose to the rank of first mate and captained the Aida IV when it became the first vessel to cross the Suez Canal following the waterway’s expansion in 2015 – also becoming the youngest and first female Egyptian captain to navigate the waterway.