Amastra

Amastra defines your social strategy. We enable social collaboration: to connect with your customers, identify influencers and gain brand.

We wanted a company name which represents what we stand for: Inspiration, integrity, courage, self-belief, passion and drive. Eileen came up with her idea. Here’s her story. “I started my working career by joining the Merchant Navy as a Deck Cadet working for Shell Tankers. At the time, Shell hadn’t employed females at sea and were breaking new ground by offering me a cadetship. My training lasted 4 years, combining shore based theory work with time at sea gaining practical knowledge of ship operations. I sailed on oil tankers: Ultra Large Crude Carriers (ULCC’s), Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) tankers, product tankers and Oil / Bulk / Ore vessels (OBO’s) carrying petrol, diesel, benzene, lubrication oils and vegetable oils. I trained at Cardiff College of Nautical Science, completing my Officer exams and returned to sea to complete my sea time. The ship I was assigned to was the Amastra. The Amastra, the second Shell Tanker of that name, was built in 1958 in Smiths dock, Teesside UK (the first Amastra having been built in 1935). She carried lubricating oil, fuel oil and molasses with each tank on board often having a different parcel of cargo. The Amastra had a long history including being holed by a mine in 1967, and spending weeks in dry-dock for maintenance and repair work. She was scrapped in Chittagong, India in 1985. I sailed on the Amastra for 7 months, finishing my cadetship and becoming 3rd Officer. I took the watch on the bridge, and held the cargo watch whilst the vessel was in port. Shell Tankers had the courage to employ their first girl Deck Cadet. The training I received gave me the strength and self belief to succeed as an Officer.