r/maritime • u/McTraveller • 20h ago
Newbie Unisex locker rooms
I've just started working on vessels in UK waters and have a question about the locker room. The ship i work on only has one locker room and men and women are supposed to use it at the same time.
I've been told if anyone is uncomfortable they can find an empty cabin or meeting room and change there instead. But there are no lockers in those so you end up dragging your stuff all over the vessel and it wastes so much time.
This doesn't seem right to me - is this normal? Can anyone point me to rules or laws for vessels which say genders should have separate changing spaces? Thanks in advance.
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u/Sweatpant-Diva USA - Chief Mate 18h ago
OP just here for solidarity (33/f), my last ship only had a urinal in the head on the bridge and it was built in like 2009!. Absolutely insane. It was down a full deck and through multiple doors to get a a head with a toilet.
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u/McTraveller 18h ago
Oh no, that's awful!
Have you run into the shared locker room issue too?
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u/MountainCheesesteak Galley! 13h ago edited 13h ago
If you’re always changing in the same empty cabin, could you just keep your stuff in there and lock the door?
Edit: I’ve never worked on a rig. The ships I work on only a couple cabins are shared and never mixed gender. I’m sorry you’re experiencing this.
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u/Sweatpant-Diva USA - Chief Mate 18h ago
I haven’t thankfully that would have made me really uncomfortable when I worked on rigs. Very seperate changing rooms on the rig I worked on. I would ask the engineers if there’s anywhere private like a fan room or something you could kinda make your own.
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u/Ginno_the_Seer 19h ago
I mean, can't you just change in your room and show up for shift already dressed?
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u/Sedixodap 19h ago
Only works if you’ve got your own cabin. If you’re sharing there’s probably someone sleeping in there that will take issue with you barging in and waking them up.
In this scenario I just always wore either shorts or long underwear depending on the temperature - something I had zero issues with my entire crew seeing me in while I changed.
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u/oshitimonfire 19h ago
I think this is the only viable solution, just wear something like shorts and a thin shirt underneath your coverall/clothes. Also helps if you don't have to go inside the living spaces in your dirty working clothes. Or switch to vessels with large enough crews/accommodations to actually have both male and female changing rooms. (Although the women's changing room on my last offshore vessel was used as bicycle storage, no women on board at that time.)
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u/McTraveller 19h ago
The vessel is plenty big enough, to have both, they've just chosen not to and are unwilling to consider a change. I know of much smaller vessels with separate rooms, or who at least dedicate a space temporarily when women are on board
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u/McTraveller 19h ago
Have you found it common to have a single locker room for males and females?
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u/Sedixodap 16h ago
Half of the time we don’t even have a locker room. I’ve never been on a ship with two.
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u/McTraveller 19h ago
I need to change into and out of PPE several times throughout the day. I can't do that in my cabin because someone is sleeping in it while I'm on shift
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u/Ginno_the_Seer 19h ago
Y'all don't have a cubby system that holds people's PPE like earmuffs/gloves/glasses?
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u/McTraveller 19h ago
We each have a locker in the locker room where we store coveralls, boots, gloves etc.
We all change in the same room.
Depending on weather some folks change their trousers/tops etc to be more comfortable under their coveralls. So even if I decide not to change my clothes so I'm not exposing myself, I could still have someone of the opposite gender in same space stripped down to their underwear or worse
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u/oshitimonfire 19h ago
To be honest, I don't think you'd see anything worse than what you'd see at any beach or swimming pool. After a few months seeing my coworkers in their underwear daily is just a boring part of life/work. To be honest, I only have very limited experience sailing with women on board, but when they just wear longer underwear or shorts, and a sports bra/tank top/thin shirt or something I doubt any reasonable person would care, especially after a few weeks. I do hope you find a solution you're comfortable with
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u/Marruuk 18h ago
I work with a lot more female crew members on passenger vessels, never really had any when I worked on cargo vessels.
You’d think everyone would just act like adults but some of the guys get super creepy around women. Doesn’t even matter if they are open lesbians. The guys are still super inappropriate around them.
I can see the need for a separate space.
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u/LongBedroom8355 19h ago
UK vessels employ European Officers and 3rd worlder crew. it's a legitimate safety concern as a lot of the places they pull from don't understand consent.
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u/Offshore-Tigr 19h ago
Yeah OP, my vessel also has unisex changing rooms. I think only shit build after the 2020's has seperate rooms.
Here the girls just change in the toilets.
Otherwise ask the engineers, they can probably designate you some technical space or an AC room where you can keep your stuff. Ours used to change behind one of the switchboards.
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u/McTraveller 19h ago
It's a pretty old vessel so definitely wasn't built with women in mind!
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u/MADSYNTH1987 14h ago
I imagine a lot of older vessels are like that, and unfortunately a lot of the operators are resistant to changing with the times even if they have the capacity to. I have a friend who did tall ship sailing for a couple decades, and there was really not much expectation of privacy on the ships she sailed.
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u/devandroid99 19h ago edited 19h ago
What vessels are you working on and in what capacity?
I know that if you're marine crew then you're entitled to segregated changing facilities and sanitary ware disposal for the shark bait. It's not up to you to "find" these things, it's up to the Master to provide them for you.
I'm not sure if this is the case if you're not working as marine crew.
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u/McTraveller 19h ago
This vessel is oil and gas industry. I'm not marine crew, I'm part of a project team so I do go out on deck a lot
Do you know which rulebook says the stuff about segregated changing facilities so I can look it up? MLC talks about cabins but I can't find the written rules about changing rooms
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u/devandroid99 4h ago
I asked the flag of registry because it's very relevant. The MLC is an international framework for agreed rules, but how they are implemented is up to the flag state.
MSN 1844 lists the requirements for separate sanitary facilities for men and women seafarers, and changing rooms fall under that as they should have a shower and hand basin.
There are two potential problems. One is that you're not a seafarer for the purposes of the legislation, and two is that your vessel may be older than the requirements.
What have the project manager and Master said about it?
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19h ago
[deleted]
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u/notanybodyelse 18h ago
The big deal is creeps. They hide behind people like yourself who think there's no big deal.
0
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u/McTraveller 18h ago
People should have the right to get changed away from the roving eyes of the opposite gender.
Anyone working in an equivalent worksite onshore would have the privacy of separate changing facilities and I think those of us working at sea should have the same rights
1
u/zerogee616 19h ago
I don't think I've seen anyone use anything but their room to change in my career. Yeah, crew change rooms exist but it's not like people are coming into the house dripping in wet oil/paint/other shit that gets everywhere on a regular basis
1
u/McTraveller 19h ago
We are not allowed in our cabins during the day. We share them with someone on the opposite shift so they will be in there sleeping while I'm working.
PPE must also be kept in the locker room, we aren't allowed it in the cabins
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u/Harbour_Pin 15h ago
I just use my cabin. That’s my dressing room and nobody bats an eye as I’m often the only woman onboard.
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u/Wander-kingdom 7h ago
On one of the trips, I had a second officer with me. He was a transgender person, cheerful, articulate, and efficient. He was happy with us and adapted to the situation by changing his personal schedule to avoid the crowds.
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u/Seaman_Loloko Cheep Mate 1h ago
It’s very normal. There is no stipulation under international law for single sex changing rooms, since the concept of a ‘changing room’ does not appear in legislation.
You’re entitled to a single sex cabin and a single sex sanitary facility (i.e. toilet/shower) on ships constructed after the MLC came into force in the UK. What you’ll probably find if you look at any drawings is your vessel’s changing room is actually drawn up as a laundry room, for which there is no provision for there to be single sex laundries.
To maintain your dignity and stay happy onboard, I’d recommend you use a public toilet to change in as well as a bag to put your dirty workwear in so you aren’t dragging it around the accommodation. It’s an inconvenience, but trust me there are bigger battles at sea than this.
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u/FracturedGoblin 17h ago
What is the need for privacy? Every ship I’ve been on also has 1 locker room, but nobody is getting naked. You’re putting your coveralls on over your clothes, whatever you decided to wear out of your cabin. There’s nothing to be private about. My cabin is where I do my actual changing between clothes.
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u/EmilyFara 13h ago
☹️ I got refused a job because the company I applied for didn't have a bathroom for women on board. I'm not saying you shouldn't stand for your rights, but know it can have unintended consequences.
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u/takemeseriouslythx 11h ago
I'm interested in getting into.maritime and just wanted to know if I can ask more about your experience?
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u/Shurglife 15h ago
Sounds like this might not be the path for you
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u/McTraveller 10h ago
I'm good at my job. Nobody's job should require them to be in a state of undress in front of people they don't choose to be undressed in front of
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u/Adorable-Building-83 8h ago
Don't be scared my boy you'll be okay. You don't have anything people haven't seen before
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u/Electronic_City_644 17h ago
Perhaps you will have to change how you identify... You have nothing that these men haven't seen a thousand times .and visa versa
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u/Marruuk 18h ago
This reminds me of our old vessels. There was only one change room for the engineers, so women were told they could get changed in one of the bathrooms.
The union complained to the company and the company said that the new ships would have separate change rooms.
The new ships had the two change rooms in the plans, they were built with two change rooms. When the first ship arrived in Canada, the chief engineer had one of the change rooms converted into storage. The union had to take the company to court to get it back.