Saudi Arabia appoints world's first female crane driver

Merryhan Al-Baz, world's first female crane driver in race competitions, is set to explore new horizons in the world of motors and engines.

Al-Baz has been taking vehicles apart and satiating her curiosity about cars ever since she was 13, Arab News reported.

Her passion for motors and engines that she inherited from her father has now paved the way for her to take part in the Diriyah E-Prix 2022 as a recovery marshal this year.

This essentially made the 30-year-old the world’s 'first female crane driver in race competitions.'

“No one ever thought a woman could enter this field — the world of mechanics is a male dominated career," Al-Baz said.

"Fortunately, in my household, my mother and father always support any talents, ideas, or anything you desire to do,” she added.

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The keen motorist further said, “My father loves mechanics; he has old cars that he tries to repair and put back into operation, and I was the only person that sat next to him to watch how he does it."

Such quality time allowed her to gain the requisite experience and expand her skills and knowledge of car mechanics.

That also led her to participate in every car exhibition or race, taking her dreams further “I’ve loved cars all my life, I have experience in racing and drifting as well,” she expressed.

Al-Baz recalled that opportunities came forth for women as a driving ban was lifted in the kingdom in June 2018, such as the roles of driving instructor, race driver and mechanics.

“This helped me achieve my dream of becoming a mechanic,” she said. “It’s such an amazing feeling to walk down the street and have people know who I am and greet me, encourage me and even learn from me.”

Explaining her profession further, she said, that there were four types of marshals at the E-Prix, such as the fire, recovery, flag, and trackside.

Seeing her capabilities, the authorities assigned her to the recovery marshal team, who must clean up the circuit forthwith in the event of an accident on the track so that the race could continue.

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“Being a recovery marshal is considered a difficult job for women — I was a crane driver tasked with picking up cars whenever an accident occurs on the circuit as quickly as possible,” Al-Baz added.

She highlighted that her role was time-sensitive as it would directly affect the flow of an ongoing race.

“Whenever there is an accident, recovery marshals need to be at the scene as soon as possible because accidents delay the race and we must act quickly. The time the car is causing a roadblock is taking up time from the other racers,” she maintained.

Interestingly, Al-Baz is a self-taught mechanic, as her academic background is completely different from her career path.

“I actually studied psychology and media in Lebanon, but I see myself in the world of cars,” she said.

Later on, the motorist got registered at an institute in Jeddah to receive a certificate to take her career forth in a more professional way.

With time, her autodidactic skills earned her a role as an instructor too, and she now hopes she will be able to initiate her own automobile repair shop in the future.