Women in Tanks
To secure the future success of the tank storage sector, Tank Storage Magazine & StocExpo brings you the Women in Tanks initiative to promote diversity in this industry as well as to celebrate what a great place the sector is for both men and women to work.
We platform female engineers, operators, and everyone involved in the tank storage sector.
Read on to discover the stories of female engineers, operators, and industry professionals.
Women in Tanks: Celebrating Diversity at StocExpo 2025
At Tank Storage Magazine, we’re proud to support the Women in Tanks initiative at our sister event, StocExpo 2025. This year’s session celebrates the incredible contributions of women across the tank storage sector, highlighting their achievements and fostering a platform for collaboration and growth.
We’re also hosting the Women in Tanks Networking Session at Stand L34, offering attendees the chance to connect, share ideas, and build meaningful relationships in a welcoming environment.
Join us at StocExpo to celebrate diversity, innovation, and leadership in tank storage.
Women in Tanks: Carin van Straten-Lagerberg
Carin van Straten-Lagerberg, senior sales manager at Vopak Netherlands, shares her passion for supporting a sustainable future in tank storage Carin van Straten-Lagerberg, senior sales manager at Vopak Netherlands After working within commercial trading operations at Shell for almost 16 years, Carin van Straten-Lagerberg decided it was time for a change. ‘I was on the customer side for a long time, and I wanted to explore the commercial side from a service providing angle instead,’ she recalls. ‘Vopak is an esteemed company, and one of the largest independent storage providers. Famous for its tanks, infrastructure, complex operations and large amount […]
Women in Tanks: Anne Been
LBC Tank Terminals’ sales manager Anne Been shares how her father’s maritime career influenced her story in the tank storage and chemical industry Anne Been, sales manager, LBC Tank Terminals After graduating, Anne Been was looking for a career that was as dynamic as it was international. ‘My dad worked in the maritime industry for almost his whole career and encouraged me to go for the role at LBC Tank Terminals Rotterdam,’ she explains. Now working for LBC as a sales manager, Been’s role centres on both strengthening relationships with existing customers and identifying new opportunities to expand LBC’s client […]
Women in Tanks: Alyssa Usman
From the Philippines to the UK, Stanlow Terminals’ Alyssa Usman shares her tank storage journey With a background in chemical engineering, Alyssa Usman has worked in oil and gas since 2014. ‘As soon as I graduated and passed my chemical engineer licensure exam, I was hired by the largest oil refinery in the Philippines,’ she says, now working as a quality and operations assurance specialist at Stanlow Terminals. ‘Since then, I’ve been in the oil and gas industry – specifically in the sector of crude refining and petroleum product manufacturing, including tank storage and terminalling.’ Alyssa Usman on site at […]
Women in Tanks: Nicola Briggs
Control room officer at Navigator Terminals, Nicola Briggs, talks about her experience as a woman in tanks Before accidentally entering the storage terminals industry around 13 years ago, Navigator Terminals control room officer, Nicola Briggs, was a mobile hairdresser. She recalls that whilst trying to set up her salon she saw an advert to work on a weighbridge. ‘I didn’t tell my dad, who was the operations manager at the time, as I did not want to use his influence,’ she says. ‘I was then offered the position, so had to come clean to him!’ After working there for six […]
Women in Tanks: Tammara Young
Colonial Pipeline’s safety specialist, Tammara Young, explains how her passion for safety and drive for learning empowered her journey into tank storage Tammara Young, safety specialist, Colonial Pipeline Tammara Young is a prime example of women in this industry elevating each other to new heights. Recommended by another colleague involved in Tank Storage Magazine’s Women in Tanks scheme, Young’s story is one that transcends industry. A single mother, she’s been able to grow an impressive career in safety and is an inspiration to all those who meet her. Though she would never be so bold as to say so. ‘I […]
Women in Tanks: Tahya Slaven
Tahya Slaven, project manager at Exolum, talks to Tank Storage Magazine, about her time in the industry and a promising future for Women in Tanks After 11 years in tank storage, Tahya Slaven has seen the highs and lows of the industry. However, in her current position at Exolum, as an electrical control and instrumental project manager, she believes she is beginning to see a more inclusive and accepting future. Her current day-to-day in this position sees her turn her hand to various jobs. ‘We’re a multi-fuel storage site which operates commercially. I am managing things like the electrical infrastructure. […]
Women in Tanks: Kathy Stewart
Vopak’s vice president for operations and technology in North America, Kathy Stewart, shares her story in the tank storage industry Kathy Stewart started her career in upstream oil and gas operations. She was looking for ways to grow and new opportunities to learn and develop her skills when a recruiter approached her for a terminal manager role at Vopak. ‘I was looking for an opportunity that would allow me to expand my knowledge of the energy industry as well as open up global opportunities,’ she says. ‘The recruiter introduced me to Vopak and the tank storage industry, and I accepted […]
Women in Tanks: Heather Legan
Heather Legan explains how BP’s early engagement programme kickstarted her career in tank storage Choosing chemical engineering in college always felt like the right fit for Heather Legan, now a process engineer at BP. She enjoyed maths, chemistry and microbiology, so the course seemed to be a great fit for her interests. Legan assumed that with this degree she would work in the food or pharmaceutical industry – mostly because those were the industries she had the most exposure to growing up. Heather Legan, process engineer, BP ‘In my first year at university, an admin on my programme pointed […]
Women in Tanks: Prioritising Performance, Teamwork And Skills
Sandra Fernandez Gigirin, project development manager at Advario, tells Tank Storage Magazine about the empowerment gained from working in the storage and logistics sector Sandra Fernandez Gigirin joined Oiltanking, the predecessor of Advario, as a process engineer for the European terminal network almost 10 years ago. She was captured by the company’s operations and reputation in the industry. The role she entered allowed her to dive into the tank storage industry, working alongside experienced professionals and being actively involved in the day-to-day challenges of terminal facilities. The opportunity to work in a regional engineering position within the tank storage […]
Women in Tanks: Sandra De Bont
Director of VOTOB Academy, Sandra De Bont, shares her journey as a Woman in Tanks… After eight years as the director of VOTOB, the Dutch tank association, Sandra de Bont resigned in 2020, to focus on VOTOB Academy. The VOTOB Academy’s mission is to promote the exchange of knowledge in the tank storage sector – it’s a mission that De Bont feels very strongly about. ‘A real highlight for me has been that all the tank companies in the Netherlands and across Europe are connected, with a shared focus on safety and human capital,’ says De Bont. She has been […]
Women in Tanks: Sarriya Heyadarova
Well completion and intervention engineer, Sariyya Heydarova tells Molly Cooper about her connection to the industry Sariyya Heydarova’s journey into the oil and gas industry differs from the usual path. Unlike many, she found herself having a strong connection with the industry from a young age, due to her passion for Azerbaijan’s rich oil and gas heritage. ‘Growing up amidst the history and landscapes of Azerbaijan, I found a profound connection to an industry that shaped my nation’s identity. It’s not just a career; it’s a way of preserving our legacy, fostering innovation, and contributing to the continued growth of […]
Women in Tanks: Hande Cote
Hande Cote, head of engineering at Johnson Matthey, came from an under-represented society. When she was a young girl in school, she experienced several power outages and studied under gasoline lamps. This made her want to alleviate both energy and water poverty – so Cote became an engineer. After studying engineering and completing her PhD, she couldn’t wait to start developing the products and services that could be used to benefit people’s daily lives. With that motivation, shortly after finishing her post-doctorate studies at Imperial College London, Cote started in the oil and gas industry in the UK. Now, with […]
Women in Tanks: Agnes Kiss
Tank Storage Magazine sits down with Agnes Kiss, sales representative at Walter Tosto to discuss what route led her to tank storage Agnes Kiss, sales representative at Walter Tosto, strongly believes that every persons’ life follows the ways set by their background, their dreams and their choices. Kiss was born in a well-known industrial city in Romania. During her childhood, at least one member of her family was working in one of the huge factories employing more than 10,000 people. All the industrial equipment that was manufactured there was bound for the European market. She grew up among miscellaneous […]
Women in Tanks: Stefana Sopco
Embracing and encouraging diversity in the industry leads to endless possibilities, says Smartflow’s Stefana Sopco. Smartflow’s head of content marketing, Stefana Sopco, journeyed into the tank storage industry following a passion for technology and digitalisation. During her first two years of living in the Netherlands, before Smartflow, Sopco worked at another tech company that built a gamified learning app. Following this position, she landed the role of head of content marketing at Smartflow – a SaaS company with a solution used to digitalise inspections and checks within the energy, maritime and TIC industries. Sopco aims to inspire women and girls […]
CREATING A BETTER FUTURE
Argent Energy’s head of supply chain, Victoria Oppenheim, tells Tank Storage Magazine about her experience as a working mother in the industry. Victoria Oppenheim was seven months pregnant when she embarked on her journey with biodiesel producer, Argent Energy. Oppenheim was headhunted from a role in the food industry to work in renewable energy. ‘I had no intentions of leaving the company I worked for but then I got a new and very bad manager, so when a headhunter called about the position at Argent, I started the process,’ she says. ‘Argent knew that I would only be operational for one […]
RenewableNI empowering women and inspiring inclusivity
Over 100 women from the renewable energy sector gathered in Belfast, Northern Ireland, this week to discuss increasing diversity and inclusion ahead of International Women’s Day 2024. RenewableNI’s Women in Renewables event, in partnership with A&L Goodbody is the only all-female event in UK and Ireland in the renewable industry. Returning for the second year, the event provides a valuable platform to champion female voices and highlight role models. Women in Renewables was opened by a keynote speech by Kate Nicholl MLA, Alliance Party spokesperson for Early Years and Childcare. Kate drew on her personal experience as a working mother, […]
Women in Tanks: Catherine Dix
Head of mechanical and structures at Technodyne, Catherine Dix, tells Tank Storage Magazine about solving real world problems in her engineering role Catherine Dix, head of mechanical and structures at Technodyne, joined the industry when she was studying for her PhD at the University of Southampton, UK. ‘I wanted to get out of academia and work in the industrial world. I wanted to use my engineering and computational skills,’ Dix says. Dix wanted to be in a real-world setting, solving real-world problems. She came across smaller, local company, Technodyne and applied. ‘This was something completely different but great. I was […]
Exolum Fills 49% of Technical Positions with Women
In 2022, 49% of the open technical positions at Exolum were filled by women. Exolum is firmly committed to the establishment of measures leading to equal opportunities and the creation
Odfjell promotes first female captain
Odfjell has promoted Lise Henriksen to captain of Bow Sky, making history in the 109-year-old Norwegian chemical tanker company. She joined the company as a deck cadet in 2010, after
Women in Tanks: Send us your story
Tank Storage Magazine is looking for inspiring stories from women in the tank storage industry. We’ve profiled some incredible women in the past and are always looking for new stories
Join Women in Tanks
To secure the future success of the tank storage sector, the industry needs to attract the right people and to retain a diversity of talent, skills, experience and thought. We platform female engineers, operators, and everyone involved in the tank storage sector.
Submit your story to our team and be a part of this exciting initiative to champion women in terminal operations.
