The first female stevedore in the Canary Islands, Ámbar Ibáñez, is from Lanzarote and works in Los Mármoles

In an interview with Ekonomus, she tells us the ins and outs of a profession that until very recently was exclusively male

April 19 2025 (20:18 WEST)
Updated in April 22 2025 (13:53 WEST)
Ámbar Ibáñez on the crane

Ámbar Ibáñez López from Lanzarote started working as a stevedore at the Los Mármoles dock in 2021 and became the first female stevedore in the Canary Islands. 

In an interview with Ekonomus, she explains, among other things, the keys to her work and her satisfaction in performing a fundamental task to supply the island with everything it needs. 

 

  • Where are you from?

I'm from Lanzarote. I was born in Arrecife, raised in Famara, and moved to Costa Teguise in my adolescence. 

 

  • How does one become a stevedore?

In the past, it was enough to be the son of a stevedore to get in. I am the daughter of a stevedore, but I had to get a truck license, stevedoring and unstuffing container courses, work at height, dangerous goods, maritime English...

And you have to pass an exam with the maritime court in Asturias, in the port of El Musel, in Gijón, the largest bulk unloading port in Spain.

 

  • Why did you decide to go for this profession?

I have always been curious about large machinery. First it was cars. I have always liked things that were considered for men more. I've been more into throwing stones and playing ball than being with dolls. 

 

  • When did you start working as a stevedore?

In 2021, I just turned four years old. 

 

  • Who do the stevedores work for specifically?

We work for the Port Employment Center (CPE), a public-private company made up of all the shipping companies that make up the stevedoring and unstuffing of the Port of Arrecife.

 

  • Are you the first female stevedore in the Canary Islands?

Yes, I am the first in the Canary Islands. There were some before on the peninsula, for example in the port of Valencia. 

This year a new promotion of stevedores has come out in the Port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria with 14 women, and the truth is that I am very happy. 

 

"Apart from the mail, which comes by plane, everything important comes by sea."  

 

  • Why was it such a male profession?

In the past, everything was unloaded by hand and it was taken for granted that someone burly would do it. In reality, back then, it was a job that no one wanted. 

Now, luckily, we have specialized machinery and we can do it the same as men, so I encourage women to apply.  In addition, the colleagues are not at all sexist, quite the opposite.

 

  • When a ship arrives, how many people unload it?

We form teams of ten people: a crane operator, a rope man, two trucks, a mafi, a reachstacker, two specialists, a pointer and a foreman. 

We are all versatile stevedores and we have to touch all sectors, although the crane is optional. 

 

  • What is done in each of the functions?

The foreman is the person in charge of directing the team and the pointer keeps track of what enters and leaves the ship.

The crane operator takes the container from the ship, takes it to land and places it on top of the mafi, a smaller crane that carries the load from point a, where the large crane is, to point b, where another machine, the reachstaker, waits, which places the load in the stack.

Afterwards, the specialists remove the pins (corner pieces that are used to fit one container with the others) so that the containers can be stored in the terminal.  The rope man acts as a second pair of eyes for the crane operator. 

 

  • How many containers are unloaded in each service?

It depends on the ship, last night for example we unloaded a ship with about 110 containers. 

 

  • And how long does it take?

Between three and six hours. Depending on the number of containers and where they are placed. Sometimes the load is more accessible, for example if everything comes on deck, it is done faster. 

If you have to go down to the hold, the distance is much greater for the crane operator. The normal thing is to unload between 20 and 30 containers per hour. 

 

  • What are rolling ships?

On the Armas and Fred Olsen ships, the cargo comes rolled. It is cargo, usually between islands, that needs to be unloaded faster. It comes in sheets that we collect with the tractor unit.

 

  • Do you earn well working as a stevedore?

You earn well, but you earn depending on what you work. There are days, especially in small ports like Arrecife, when it is very easy to go out twice in one day or finish late at night and have to start early in the morning.

The work is hard, but I feel fulfilled. Apart from the mail, which comes by plane, everything important comes by sea.  

 

Ámbar Ibáñez on land. Port of Arrecife.
Ámbar Ibáñez on land. Port of Arrecife.



 

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