Why the Women Who Have Been Here 25 Years Are Not Leaving

Marianne Blechingberg has been in the industry for 40 years. She is approaching retirement age. She is not retiring.

"I have so much to still do and close business and develop the company," said Blechingberg, managing director of Oy Hacklin Logistics Ltd. "It's not time to go."

At a Women in Breakbulk panel hosted by The Heavy Lift Group at Breakbulk Europe, eight senior women were asked the question that cuts to the heart of any career in project logistics: yes, it is hard, but why are you still here?

For Blechingberg, the hook was the same thing that drew her in at the start: the international relationships, the pace, the satisfaction of winning business and seeing cargo move. She described standing in ports watching freight she had booked being loaded onto vessels, long days and all, and finding something in that she has never found anywhere else.

"You get the pleasure of the work getting done," she said. "You get the good feedback from your customers, from your international partners. You get more business after hard work."

For Rosy Malave, founder and commercial director of Nakama Worldwide Solutions, the word she reached for was not career. It was lifestyle.

"This is the only thing I have done since I was 18 and I am 46," she said. "Since I woke up, it is like logistics is everything."

Iris Müllejans, managing director of Rolf Riedl GmbH, was asked to sum up project cargo in three words. She did not hesitate: challenges, passion and teamwork.

"You can't move a piece of 253 tons yourself," she said. "You have a fantastic team, and it starts really from the CEO or from the guy driving the forklift. Everybody has this role and needs to work together."

What came through across every answer was that the difficulty is not incidental to the appeal. It is the appeal. Project cargo does not repeat itself. Every shipment is a problem that has not been solved before in quite that configuration, with those dimensions, in that port, under those regulations. The people who thrive in it are the ones who find that stimulating rather than exhausting.

Sanjna Vardhan, assistant vice president at Procam Group, put it plainly.

"Project logistics is very stimulating," she said. "The brain keeps moving, keeps working because every challenge is new, every project is new. Everything which you resolve over the period of time helps you keep stimulating yourself and you feel young even after 25, 30, 40 years."

Miriam Nagel, business development manager at DEUFOL DÖHLE PROJECTS, added a practical note on sustaining that energy over a long career. The work demands a lot. It also, if you let it, gives you room to recover.

"Your brain is not a computer, so it can't be running on full speed all the time," she said. "Take the lunch break. Clear your head. Go out, talk to your colleagues, talk about something completely different."

The through line across all eight panelists was not that the job is easy or that the industry has been entirely fair. It has not been either. It is that once the work gets into you, it is very hard to imagine doing anything else.

About This Series

This article was developed from a workshop hosted by the Women in Breakbulk Lounge during Breakbulk Europe.

Title: Next Generation Project Cargo: Mentorship and Future Readiness Date: Tuesday, June 16, 2026 Location: Women in Breakbulk Lounge, Breakbulk Europe, Rotterdam Ahoy Panelists: Beatriz Alvarado, Sales and Chartering Director, Kaleido Ideas and Logistics / Elisabeth Cosmatos, CEO, The Cosmatos Group / Ilse Rodewijk, CEO, AlbatrosDigital / Iris Müllejans, Managing Director, Rolf Riedl GmbH / Marianne Blechingberg, Managing Director, Oy Hacklin Logistics Ltd / Miriam Nagel, Business Development Manager, DEUFOL DÖHLE PROJECTS GMBH / Rosy Malave, Founder and Commercial Director, Nakama Worldwide Solutions / Sanjna Vardhan, Assistant Vice President, Procam Group Association: The Heavy Lift Group (THLG) Session URL: https://europe.breakbulk.com/agendas/event-agenda/next-generation-project-cargo-mentorship-and

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