25-year-old, Second Officer, Jess Callahan from Shrewsbury swaps tankers for floating hospital ship

“When I serve on tankers, I'm normally the only girl. Out of 21 of us, there’s only one female. It's not the best ratio,” said Jess.

However, for the last five months, Jess has been stationed on board a floating hospital ship in the port of Toamasina, Madagascar. The Africa Mercy is one of two hospital ships run by international health charity, Mercy Ships.

“It’s thanks to a partnership between Seapeak and Mercy Ships that I’ve been able to volunteer my skills,” Jess explains. “I jumped at this opportunity. There are over 300 crew on board and three other women in my line of work. Although this ratio is still low, it really helps to have other women who understand what you're going through around you.”

There is currently a huge gap in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) workforce representation, with women taking up only 29.2% of jobs in the field compared to nearly 50% of non-STEM occupations, according to the Global Gender Gap Report (2023). This gap is particularly evident in computer science and engineering.

However, this doesn’t put Jess off. Having started her maritime career when she was only 18 years old, training at Warsash Maritime School in Southampton, Jess has her sights on becoming a captain.

“My dad is a captain and I always wanted to follow in his footsteps,” Jess explained. “Now I have a larger licence than he does so I can drive bigger boats!”

Jess originally joined Mercy Ships as the Safety Officer but was soon promoted to Second Officer, bringing her big ship experience to help rebuild the safety management system on board the Africa Mercy and help write risk assessments.

“I know I’m not working in the hospital on board, but this is still a ship and so my job is still relevant,” she said, explaining why she joined Mercy Ships and the significance of her role in the organisation’s mission. “It’s very much in the background because the primary purpose of the ship is to be a hospital, but I am happy that I can provide my little part to help the people who really need it. I have a skillset which is necessary to run it.”

Jess has thrown herself into her new role, building friendships across the volunteer crew and enjoying the mix of ages on board.

“It’s been lovely to live alongside families,” Jess said. “One of the crew children turned one while I was on board and I saw him take his first steps.

“I’m used to working alongside up to 13 nationalities, but here it’s sometimes up to 50 different nationalities making up the crew. My favourite part has been working with the Malagasy crew and learning more about their culture.”

Based in the port of Toamasina throughout her whole five months, Jess has missed the navigation side of her work. However, Jess is due to join the Africa Mercy as it sails to the dry dock in Durban at the end of 2024 and support the crew on the annual maintenance.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how she moves,” laughs Jess. “I think she’s going to be a roller!”

It takes a whole crew to run a hospital ship, both abroad and at home. You do not need any medical training. Only 50 per cent of our volunteers are medics. No matter your skills, we have a place for you.

To find out how you can volunteer with Mercy Ships, visit mercyships.org.uk/volunteer