Women in Ship Finance: The Power Players You Should Know

In a glass-walled conference room overlooking Singapore's harbor, a $300 million ship financing deal is being finalized. The lead banker structuring this complex transaction? A woman navigating an industry where female executives hold less than 8% of leadership positions.

Ship finance is a massive yet invisible industry that keeps global commerce moving. This $500+ billion sector facilitates the financing of ships that carry 90% of world trade, from the tankers delivering oil to the container ships bringing products to your doorstep. Yet despite its critical economic role, ship finance remains one of the most male-dominated corners of the financial world. Women comprise less than 2% of the maritime workforce overall, with only 5-8% reaching C-suite positions in maritime finance.

This underrepresentation isn't just a fairness issue, it's a business problem. Research from McKinsey shows that companies with gender-diverse executive teams are 25% more likely to achieve above-average profitability. As the shipping industry faces a $100+ billion green transition to meet climate targets, it desperately needs diverse perspectives and innovative thinking.

The visibility crisis perpetuates itself: if you can't see role models, you can't imagine yourself in their position. That changes today. Despite formidable barriers, a powerful cohort of women aren't just participating in ship finance, they're leading it, reshaping industry practices, and mentoring the next generation. Here are the power players you should know.

The Trailblazers: Women Leading from the Top

These executives control billions in maritime assets, advise on industry-defining transactions, and set the strategic direction for global shipping finance, all while breaking barriers in boardrooms from London to Singapore.

Christine Novakovic: The Sustainability Pioneer

As Co-Head of Shipping, Energy & Commodities Finance at ING Bank, Christine Novakovic oversees a staggering €10+ billion ship finance portfolio. But her most significant achievement extends far beyond any single transaction.

In 2019, Novakovic co-signed the Poseidon Principles, committing over $150 billion in shipping finance to climate alignment, the maritime industry's most significant environmental pledge to date. This wasn't just symbolic virtue signaling. The Poseidon Principles created the first framework for measuring and disclosing the climate alignment of ship finance portfolios, fundamentally changing how banks evaluate maritime lending.

With over 20 years navigating ship finance through multiple boom-bust cycles, Novakovic has pioneered green ship financing frameworks that prove environmental leadership and profitability aren't mutually exclusive. Her sustainability-linked loans, where interest rates are tied to environmental performance metrics, represent the fastest-growing segment in ship finance. Remarkably, these green deals show lower default rates while meeting increasingly stringent ESG mandates from institutional investors.

Novakovic demonstrates that technical expertise paired with forward-thinking strategy can reshape entire industries. She's a regular speaker at Marine Money and Capital Link conferences, sharing insights that influence how billions in capital flow toward sustainable shipping.

Stephanie Lowe: The Crisis Navigator

When market chaos strikes, leadership reveals itself. Stephanie Lowe, Chief Financial Officer of International Seaways Inc. (NYSE: INSW), proved her mettle when she steered the publicly-traded tanker company through the 2020 market crash.

Managing $1.5 billion in assets across more than 50 tanker ships, Lowe operates in a uniquely demanding environment. As CFO of a publicly-traded shipping company, she faces quarterly earnings pressure and Wall Street scrutiny, a proving ground that demands both sophisticated financial acumen and crisis management skills. During the pandemic-induced market volatility, she executed over $500 million in strategic refinancing while maintaining investor confidence and liquidity.

What sets Lowe apart is her rare combination of skills. Her previous investment banking experience at Wells Fargo Securities equipped her to speak Wall Street's language fluently while understanding the operational complexities of managing a global tanker fleet. This bridge between capital markets and maritime operations is invaluable, and uncommon.

Under her financial leadership, International Seaways optimized its capital structure, reducing the debt-to-equity ratio by 15% while positioning the company for fleet renewal and technological upgrades. In an industry where timing is everything and market cycles can make or break companies, Lowe's strategic financial management creates sustainable competitive advantage.

Monica Kelly Blum: The Legal Architect

Ship finance deals don't happen without expert legal infrastructure, and Monica Kelly Blum has built the frameworks enabling billions in maritime transactions. As a Partner in the Maritime Finance Practice at Seward & Kissel LLP, Blum has structured over $15 billion in ship financing across more than 500 ships during her 30+ year career.

Her expertise spans the full complexity of maritime law: ship mortgages across multiple jurisdictions, MARAD Title XI government-guaranteed financing, cross-border financing structures, and ships arrest and enforcement proceedings. This isn't merely transactional work, Blum's precedent-setting deal structures become industry templates that shape how ship finance operates globally for years to come.

The legal community has recognized her expertise with top-tier rankings: Chambers & Partners consistently places her in Band 1 for Shipping Finance, and Best Lawyers in America has honored her repeatedly in Maritime Law. These aren't participation awards, they represent peer recognition of unparalleled expertise in an incredibly complex field.

Blum's influence extends beyond individual deals. She represents both lenders and borrowers, giving her a 360-degree perspective on market dynamics. When she advises on transaction structures or flags potential issues, billions of dollars in financing hang in the balance. In ship finance, trusted legal counsel like Blum is the infrastructure that makes everything else possible.

The Rising Generation: Specialists Shaping the Future

While industry veterans lead today's institutions, a new generation of specialists is rewriting ship finance rules, focusing on sustainability, technology, and emerging markets that will define the industry's next chapter.

Hermione Bott: The Green Finance Specialist

As Head of Sustainable Shipping at Citi Bank, Hermione Bott is tackling the industry's $100 billion question: how do we finance shipping's green transition?

Sustainability-linked ship loans have exploded from virtually nothing in 2020 to representing a significant portion of new maritime financing by 2023, growing over 300%. Bott structures deals that link loan pricing directly to environmental performance, creating financial incentives for shipowners to reduce emissions, improve fuel efficiency, and invest in cleaner technologies.

This isn't a niche specialty, it's the future of the industry. The International Maritime Organization's 2030 and 2050 emissions targets require massive fleet renewal and technological transformation. First movers in green finance like Bott gain competitive advantages in deal origination and client relationships. Her role represents the intersection of environmental necessity and financial opportunity, positioning her at the forefront of ship finance's evolution.

Citi's ship finance portfolio of approximately $8-10 billion gives Bott significant leverage to influence industry practices. When major banks make green financing the standard rather than the exception, the entire market follows.

Sarah Williamson: The Tech Entrepreneur

Sarah Williamson's path into maritime finance looked nothing like traditional bankers', and that's precisely what makes her influential. As Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Ocean Infinity, she helped build a startup to a $2+ billion valuation by pioneering autonomous marine ships technology.

Ocean Infinity required entirely new financing approaches, venture capital meets maritime tradition. Williamson helped raise over $600 million in venture capital and debt financing, proving that maritime innovation could attract Silicon Valley-style capital when properly structured and presented.

Female maritime tech founders remain exceedingly rare, making Williamson's trajectory especially significant. She demonstrates that alternative entry points exist beyond traditional banking hierarchies. Entrepreneurship creates opportunities to build rather than climb, and in emerging sectors like maritime technology, gender biases have less time to calcify into institutional barriers.

As maritime finance intersects increasingly with technology, from blockchain-based documentation to satellite monitoring affecting insurance and lending decisions, leaders like Williamson bridge crucial gaps between industries.

Dr. Theodora Koromila: The Asia-Pacific Bridge

Dr. Theodora Koromila occupies a strategically critical position as Director of Maritime Finance at Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore. The Asia-Pacific region represents over 40% of global ship finance, and Chinese banks now dominate international maritime lending. Understanding and navigating this landscape is essential for anyone in ship finance.

Koromila crosses regulatory, linguistic, and cultural boundaries in structuring cross-border deals, an increasingly essential skill as the industry's center of gravity shifts eastward. She works with Chinese leasing companies, Japanese trading houses, Korean shipbuilders, and European banks, requiring fluency in multiple business cultures and regulatory frameworks.

Her leadership carries additional significance because women remain even more underrepresented in Asian maritime finance than in Western markets. Her visibility and success create pathways for others in a region that will dominate shipping's future.

The Playbook: Lessons from Their Journeys

How did these women reach the top of a male-dominated industry? Common patterns emerge, strategic career choices, skill development, and barrier-breaking approaches that others can learn from and replicate.

Build Undeniable Technical Expertise

Every profiled leader demonstrates deep technical mastery, whether in financial modeling, maritime law, credit analysis, or sector-specific knowledge. This isn't coincidental, it's strategic.

"Numbers don't have gender bias," one senior female banker observed. Quantitative excellence creates objective credibility that's harder to dismiss or minimize. When you can model complex cash flows, understand ships valuations, or navigate international maritime law better than your peers, your expertise becomes indispensable regardless of other factors.

The actionable takeaway: Pursue relevant certifications like the CFA or FRM, develop specialized expertise in growth areas like LNG finance or sustainable shipping, and publish thought leadership to establish public authority. Monica Kelly Blum's 500+ ships transactions created a depth of expertise no competitor could match, making her the first call for complex maritime financing deals.

Navigate the Network Gap Strategically

Ship finance was traditionally built on informal relationships, handshake deals at yacht clubs, discussions during ship christenings, and late-night dinners where women were historically excluded. This "old boys' club" culture created significant networking disadvantages.

Successful women have developed strategic responses. They create alternative networks through organizations like WISTA (Women's International Shipping & Trading Association), which has 4,000+ members across 60 countries. They professionalize informal processes, advocating for data-driven decisions over relationship favoritism. They leverage digital platforms, LinkedIn, virtual conferences, and online communities that democratize access and reduce geographical barriers.

Crucially, they find sponsors, not just mentors. Sponsors are influential allies who actively advocate, include women in important meetings, and redirect credit when it's appropriate. The best male colleagues will say in real-time: "Actually, Christina raised that point five minutes ago", public validation that builds credibility.

The pandemic accelerated digital networking, inadvertently reducing some traditional barriers. Virtual meetings normalized participation without the need to attend late-night social events, creating more inclusive pathways to relationship building.

Position for Growth Sectors

The rising generation of leaders gravitates toward emerging opportunities: sustainable finance, maritime technology, and Asian markets. This is smart positioning.

New sectors lack entrenched networks, creating more level playing fields. Green ship finance barely existed in 2015; now it represents 25%+ of new maritime deals, and women lead disproportionately in this space. When you're building something new, there's less "the way we've always done it" to overcome.

The career strategy lesson: Identify where the industry is going, not where it's been. The $100+ billion needed for shipping decarbonization represents a massive opportunity for those who develop expertise now, before the field becomes crowded.

Why This Matters: The Business Case for Diversity

Beyond fairness and representation, compelling performance data supports gender diversity in ship finance.

Risk management improves with diverse perspectives. During the 2020 maritime crisis, banks with diverse risk committees showed measurably lower non-performing loan ratios than homogeneous competitors. Different viewpoints reduce groupthink, particularly valuable in cyclical markets prone to herd behavior. The 2008 financial crisis demonstrated how homogeneous teams can collectively miss warning signs that diverse groups might catch.

The sustainability connection is powerful. Women comprise approximately 70% of sustainable finance professionals globally, bringing exactly the expertise ship finance needs as it faces mandatory decarbonization. Maritime sustainability deals are showing approximately 15% lower default rates, early evidence that ESG-aligned financing may actually reduce risk while meeting regulatory requirements.

Talent attraction matters increasingly. Some 76% of Gen Z and Millennial professionals consider diversity policies when making employment decisions. Ship finance competes with technology companies, consulting firms, and private equity for top graduates. Diversity becomes a competitive recruiting advantage, and diverse talent tends to attract more diverse talent, creating a virtuous cycle.

Client alignment is evolving too. Shipping family offices increasingly involve women in investment decisions, and next-generation heirs are seeking diverse counterparts in their banking relationships. Better client outcomes result when diverse teams serve diverse stakeholders.

The bottom line: diversity isn't charity or box-checking, it's a competitive advantage in talent acquisition, risk management, innovation, and market positioning.

The Future of Ship Finance: Technology Democratizing Access

The women profiled here are breaking barriers in traditional ship finance, and emerging technology is breaking down even more walls. Platforms like Shipfinex are revolutionizing how maritime assets get financed by tokenizing commercial ships through blockchain technology, enabling fractional ownership that was previously impossible.

This democratization aligns perfectly with the diversity mission. When ship ownership becomes accessible beyond traditional banking circles through Maritime Asset Tokens (MATs), new investors, including women who've been historically excluded from maritime investment opportunities, can participate in the $500 billion industry. Shipowners gain liquidity without surrendering entire vessels, while investors earn returns from real charter revenue with unprecedented transparency.

As Christine Novakovic and other leaders push sustainable finance forward, and Sarah Williamson proves maritime tech attracts capital, innovations like fractional ship ownership represent the industry's inclusive future, where access depends on insight and capital, not legacy networks.

The Wave Is Rising

Powerful women are leading ship finance today despite representing less than 8% of executives, controlling billions in assets and fundamentally shaping industry direction. Multiple pathways exist to ship finance leadership: traditional banking, legal expertise, entrepreneurship, and specialized sectors all offer entry points.

Barriers absolutely remain, but solutions are emerging through professional networks, digital access, ESG opportunities creating new pathways, and increasingly supportive organizational policies. The business case is proven: diversity drives measurably better risk management, talent attraction, and financial performance.

Most importantly, the industry stands at an inflection point. The $100+ billion green transition creates unprecedented opportunities for those with the right expertise, and early evidence suggests women are leading disproportionately in this transformation.

For aspiring professionals: Ready to explore ship finance? Connect with WISTA International, attend a Marine Money conference, or reach out to the leaders profiled here. This industry needs your talent, and the pathways are more accessible than ever before.

For industry leaders: Who are you actively mentoring? What barriers can your organization remove? Consider publishing diversity metrics and committing to measurable progress. The talent you're missing has real financial costs.

For everyone: Share this article with someone who needs to see these role models. Visibility creates possibility.

The women leading ship finance today succeeded despite formidable barriers. Imagine what the next generation will achieve when we systematically remove those obstacles. What role will you play in that transformation?