Turkey’s first female pilot, Nildeniz Sütçü Şen, with 15 years of experience, catches the ladder extended towards her from that huge ship and starts climbing. Then she went to the captain’s cabin and started maneuvering, Şen’s life story begins in the news in Hürriyet Newspaper…
Being a Pilot is not a rank that every sailor can easily reach. First of all, it is necessary to be a long-distance captain for years, to pass dozens of exams and to rise to the first captain. This is not enough, there is a long and arduous process to become a pilot. License to operate all the ships in the world, language exams and more. Nildeniz Sütçü Şen, Turkey’s first female pilot, is one of the first two women to be accepted into the ITU Maritime Faculty Deck Department. Having a passion for the sea since childhood and determined to make it a profession:
“I am from Erdek, I spent my childhood fishing and taking care of the sea. While researching professions during the university exam period, I saw that ITU Maritime Faculty would accept female students for the first time in its history. When I looked at the job description, it was saying ‘long-distance officer’. Being at sea for a long time gave me incredible excitement. Our school is established in the 1700s, would admit 10 female students for the first time that year. I never knew the definition of a profession, I just had in mind to be at sea. We entered as 10 female students alongside 150 male students. When we first entered the faculty, 5-6 teachers came up to us and measured our physical condition. ‘Are you sure, this profession is psychologically very difficult, you spend your life at sea. If you want, you can switch to a sub-preference,’ they said. We entered the faculty as 5 mechanics and 5 deckhands. Some of the girls affected by these conversations went into a sub preference. We, as deckhands, remained as 2 female students. And these conversations backfired, I said, ‘I definitely want to do it’. The remaining female students motivated each other. As a result, we started 6 people as 2 deck crew and 4 mechanic girls.”
In maritime faculties, there are two short and one long internships with the school. Here is the first meeting with the profession: “Because the environment scared me so much about going on a long journey, I did my first short internship on a cruise ship between Samsun and Çanakkale. I said make it a smooth transition. However, later on, I realized that if I wanted to be a long-distance ship captain, I had no chance to escape from commercial ships, and I did my second internship in India on a chemical tanker. It was a 4-month journey. There were extra controls and extra responsibilities as it was carrying dangerous goods. In maritime it makes more sense to learn a certain type of Ship and specialize there, so I mostly worked on tankers until I became a pilot.”
I was on board for 10 years without a break
So, how was the 10 years of long distance captaincy for Nildeniz Sütçü Şen? Şen explains, “I got used to the ship immediately, I loved it. There is a very intense work pace there, there is a great struggle. There is stress and pressure. You always have to think about the next step. This keeps you awake and vigorous at all times. I started as the 3rd officer and after 2 years of experience, I was promoted to the 2nd officer. The 2nd officer is responsible for maps, routes, all safety-related controls. Then, after gaining sufficient experience, you pass many exams and rise to the 1st officer rank. The 1st officer is responsible for general discipline on board and the distribution of daily work. I was on board for 10 years without a break, 4-5 months on the ship, 1-2 months on land.”
Şen, who married her friend from the university, who is a captain like her, said, “For many years, we carried out our relationship over the phone, trying to balance our time off. Then we got married, but I continued to be the captain. He, on the other hand, left the captaincy, again starting a company about digital entrepreneurship related to the sea,” she says.
They thought I was the second captain’s wife
Nildeniz Sütçü Şen had the opportunity to work with female intern several times and once with a female captain during her 10-year long-distance captainship. Şen, who is mostly the only woman on the ship, also had funny memories: “Because there are few female captains in the world, they always thought I was the wife of one of the men in the ships. In Singapore, the agency officer came to me in a great rush. ‘How did you come, I didn’t report you were on the ship,’ she said. He thought I was the first officer’s wife. When he said, ‘I am the captain of the ship’, the officer both relaxed and started laughing…”
Is it easy to work onboard? Şen says that the warnings made when entering the profession are not unfair: “There is working without hours, there is being away from the family, there is the psychology of staying in a closed place for very long months. Think of it like a constantly working factory where you don’t know what to expect each day. You travel from country to country in India, Indonesia, each country has different rules, there are risky gulfs, there is a risk of pirate attacks. All that aside, it’s a great job that the person doing it is passionate about.”
No power can separate me from the sea
While she was a long-distance captain, Şen had set her mind to piloting. She tells her story of being a pilot who started 5 years ago as follows: “To be a pilot, it is necessary to rise to the rank of captain. I met all the conditions. But I never wanted to be separated from the sea. Sitting and working at the computer is not for me. No power can tear me from the sea. Through a friend of mine, I found myself in a piloting internship. Maneuvering is required. I only used a tanker for 10 years. It is necessary to use every type of ship for guidance. You must have a good command of the wind, current, coastline and ship traffic of the area you work in. I learned about all the ports in the Gulf of Izmit. Maneuvering is the riskiest issue on large ships. Ships are coming, we dock them because we know the port. A move that takes 5-6 hours on large ships. We work day and night for 5 days, with the pilots here, we get on the ships that come in turn, and we take a rest for 10 days.”
Pirate Nightmare
“The most stressful issue for a sailor is the pirate issue. There used to be a lot of pirate attacks in my era. We will cross the Gulf of Aden once. I was told there was a risk of a pirate attack. You’re always on the alert. Warships follow to protect you. But there are a lot of fishing boats around. You don’t know which is a pirate and which is a fisherman. The lives of the people on board are entrusted to the captain. I haven’t been able to sleep at all for the past 5 days by the Bay.”