Tania Galli, Legal Director of Universal Africa Lines B.V.
Here, women from the maritime sector share their stories. This is Tania Galli's story.
My work
Today, I serve as the Legal Director of a shipping company based in Capelle aan den IJssel, where I oversee all legal, insurance, and compliance matters. From answering the smallest documentation queries to guiding our expansion into new territories, my role spans the full breadth of the industry’s legal landscape. I have been with the company for over 12 years, and in that time, I’ve witnessed how the shipping world never truly stands still - how it continuously evolves, just like the tides it depends on. Yet, despite all the change, the core of shipping remains astonishingly timeless.
This industry - one of the oldest known to mankind - has moved empires, shaped economies, and connected civilizations for millennia. And still today, many of the same principles of trust, diligence, resilience, and navigation apply. The language may now include compliance protocols and insurance clauses, but the heart of it is unchanged: ships, people, and the ceaseless rhythm of the sea. It is a privilege to serve an industry that has not only shaped the world but shaped my world.
For me, shipping has always been more than a career - it’s part of my bloodline. I was born in Latvia and raised in Scotland, but my roots stretch far across oceans and continents. My earliest memories are of visiting my father aboard ships in distant ports. My father sailed, and my mother, too, worked within the shipping industry. Their stories filled our home with the language of tides, vessels, and global horizons.
As children, we didn’t have ordinary holidays - we had adventures in shipyards, terminals, and foreign harbours. It was a life filled with movement, discovery, and the constant presence of the sea. That sense of wonder never left me.
When I pursued a legal education, I knew I didn’t want to be confined by borders. The law fascinated me, but so did the idea of a world without limits - a world where principles cross oceans and where every day presents a new challenge. Shipping law, with its rich heritage and global reach, offered exactly that. It bridged tradition and modernity, discipline and adventure.
I still remember the first time I walked up the gangway of a vessel as a little girl, holding my father’s hand in a busy port somewhere far from home. The ship loomed above us like a floating city - massive, alive, humming with quiet energy. I was small, the kind of small that makes everything feel like magic, and I can still hear the metallic echo of our footsteps on the deck.. My father bent down, pointed to the horizon, and said: “That’s where everything begins.” At the time, I didn’t fully understand what he meant. To me, it was just water stretching out endlessly. But that image never left me.
Years later, when I found myself negotiating a complex cross-border contract late into the night, with time zones clashing and legal systems colliding, I suddenly remembered that moment. I realised this was the horizon he spoke of - not a place, but a mindset. One where possibility begins, where borders blur, and where you’re never really finished learning. The shipping industry has a way of teaching you humility. No matter how experienced you are, there is always a regulation you’ve never seen, a new port to understand, a cultural nuance to respect. But what it also teaches - more than any textbook ever could - is resilience. Ships don’t stop because the sea gets rough. And neither do we.
“That’s where everything begins.”
Does being a woman play a role in your work?
To be a woman in shipping is to live in contrast. You are often one of few in the room - sometimes the only one. You walk into boardrooms, legal negotiations, or shipyards knowing that your voice may be tested before it is trusted.
The industry, like the sea, can be unforgiving. But it also teaches you how to stand tall in the wind, how to hold your course, and how to believe in the strength of your own compass. Yes, it can be challenging, but it is a challenge worth taking. When I first entered this field, I carried not just my knowledge and determination, but also the quiet weight of knowing I might have to prove myself twice before being seen once.
But over the years, I’ve learned that what may begin in solitude does not have to stay there. Because while the path can be steep, it is far from lonely. I’ve been fortunate to find not only allies in the wider industry, but also a professional home in my current company—a place that has included me, supported me, and given me room to grow and expand, whilst providing a space that values inclusion and ambition. I have also been lifted, inspired, and championed by an incredible sisterhood - women across the industry who show up for each other, who share their wisdom, and who light the way forward. We may be spread across ports and oceans, but we are bound by something stronger than proximity: shared experience, shared grit, shared hope.
There is something profoundly beautiful in that solidarity - a quiet rebellion against the idea that we must walk alone. To the next generation of women—those just setting sail: do not be afraid of the vastness ahead. It may look daunting now, but you were built for horizons. There is space for you here. There is need for you here. Let the traditions of this ancient industry guide you, but never let them confine you. The sea has always belonged to the bold - and you are bold enough. Because we all know that every woman who stands in this space carves a wider path for those who will follow - and there is no greater legacy than that.
What do you like most about your job?
Shipping gave my family purpose, and now it gives me mine. The horizon that once seemed so infinite from a ship’s deck is now the space in which I work, explore, and grow. And for that, I will always be grateful.
