On August 20, 2025, Marina Starovoitova became the first woman in history to be appointed captain a nuclear icebreaker.
Marina Starovoitova, a graduate of Bryansk State University, was teaching Russian language and literature in the middle classes of a rural school when her acquaintances from the Arctic region told her that the Murmansk Shipping Company was recruiting women to join a ship’s crew.
Marina graduated from the Admiral S.O. Makarov State Maritime Academy, specializing as a navigation engineer. By now, she has been working at sea for more than 20 years, six of them in the nuclear fleet. She rose through the ranks from a sailor to Senior Assistant Captain. She is a holder of a Certificate of Merit of Rosatom State Corporation, letter of gratitude of the Russian President and other professional awards.The Captain’s badge was presented to Marina Starovoitova by Alexander Barinov, President Emeritus of the Murmansk Atomflot veteran organization.
"To be a captain is to carry on the nuclear fleet traditions, to cherish the crew and the icebreaker. That’s where I see my biggest mission. I’ll undertake it every day. And I very much hope that I will succeed and justify your trust and the trust of my colleagues "… said Marina Starovoitova.
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Icebreaker escort is organized to ensure safe navigation along the Northern Sea Route. The Northern Sea Route is the shortest shipping route between Western Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific Region.
The NSR administratively begins at the border between the Barents and Kara Sea (Kara Strait) and ends in the Bering Strait (Cape Dezhnev). The route is 5,600 km long. The NSR passes through the seas of the Arctic Ocean (Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi). The NSR services the ports in the Arctic and major Siberian rivers.
Russia expects a 50% rise in voyages by foreign vessels through the Northern Sea Route (NSR) in 2025, Rosatom told Reuters in late May.
Source: Safety4sea
