Kenya’s First Female Marine Pilot Elizabeth Marami Attains Chief Officer Title

Kenya’s first female marine pilot Elizabeth Marami has passed Britain’s coast guard oral exams, which makes her a certified UK Chief Officer Unlimited/ master 3000GT. 

Marami, 30, becomes the first Kenyan woman to attain the certification which allows her to serve onboard a cruise ship.

“It’s one of the best days of my life as I passed my UK coast guard orals exam! I achieved a goal I set out to attain 10 years ago but life short-changed me due to employment rejection onboard ships and so I didn’t get the sea service I needed,” she wrote on her Instagram.

Various companies had rejected Marani in her quest to gather the required sea time experience in order to graduate as a captain. She said most of her applications were rejected due to her gender as navigation is a predominantly male course.

“I just want to say, this is for all the Kenyan girls who were inspired to join the profession after hearing my story. You kept me going! This is your win! We may be late to the party as Kenyan female seafarers but the world best be ready for one heck of a show!” said Marami.

Kenya Maritime Authority acting Director General John Omingo congratulated Marami, saying: “We have made strides as a country, we now have a certificated Kenyan woman chief officer. This is a good achievement, she has opened the doors for other women to work on cruise ships, we now have others emulating her.”

Marami was last year promoted from 2nd Officer to 1st Officer of Celebrity Edge, a ship operated by the American cruise ship company Celebrity Cruises. In March 2020, she was part of the first-ever all-female team that set sail, making history in the process.

Born and bred in Mombasa, Marami initially studied law at the University of Nairobi, but later changed course and went on to pursue navigation at Arab Maritime Academy in Egypt where she graduated with First Class Honors.

“I always grew up knowing that I wanted to do something different, Something out of the ordinary. Being awarded a scholarship to pursue this career was God’s answered prayer…,” she said in a past interview.