Unlocking collaboration in South Africa’s maritime industry

Applications open for Founding Connector seats

SOUTH AFRICA: Coastwise Connect, a new virtual community for South African maritime professionals, has opened applications for 35 Founding Connector seats ahead of its public launch later this year. The recruitment funnel went live this week, with selections being made on a rolling basis until the cohort is filled.

The platform is being positioned as the country’s first dedicated digital home for the South African maritime sector. It includes open channels with updated relevant maritime legislation and regulations as they are released; and the opportunity for members to engage in real-time to script industry responses where necessary.

It will include a dedicated International Maritime Organisation channel for international updates. There's a separate channel to showcase maritime job opportunities, grants and opportunities as well as another channel to ask for help and a dedicated Women in Maritime channel too.

But, that's just the beginning. The Coastwise Connect community will evolve to meet the needs of its members as its members evolve.

Having heard the continuous call for collaboration within the industry, the Coastwise Connect community is being launched by Colleen Jacka, founding editor of Maritime Review Africa. “Every maritime conference in South Africa ends with the same sentence: we need to collaborate more. But we all leave the auditoriums and jump right back into our silos,” she said.

“We’re building the place where the conversation continues after the conference ends.”

The Founding Connector cohort will be drawn from across all maritime sub-sectors and from a deliberate mix of career stages. Applicants are being weighted on against their network density within their sub-sector, cross-sector curiosity, and a demonstrated bias for action.

Those selected to join the cohort will receive key benefits within the community in return for their input.

The application only takes a few minutes. Applicants who do not make the founders list will be moved to the top of the soft-launch waitlist and offered three months complimentary access when public registration opens.

CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO APPLY AND LEARN MORE