Dubai: A ship captain has made history by becoming the first woman to sail a cruise vessel to a GCC country. Captain Sarah Breton, originally from England, guided the Artemis into Port Rashid on Sunday morning on its maiden voyage to Dubai.
The vessel, which is operated by P&O Cruises and has a passenger capacity of 1,170, is stopping in Dubai on its cruise from Southampton to Hong Kong.
Breton, the first woman to reach the rank of captain in the 173-year history of P&O Cruises, said: "It feels absolutely fantastic to be the first female to sail a cruise ship into the GCC. Dubai Cruise Terminal is based at such a lovely port."
"Every place you go to is different and challenging. I am going to visit the Burj Khalifa today and I would like to come back one day for the Dubai World Cup horse racing event," she said.
"I am very proud to be the first female captain in the 173-year history of P&O Cruises. It has been fantastic and I have had such brilliant support."
"Everyone does the best they can to get to the top in their career."
Breton, who started off working on cargo ships, joined P&O Cruises in 1989 and worked her way up through the ranks.
She joined the Artemis as third officer when she started working for the company 22 years ago.
The Artemis is making its first and last call at Dubai as she was recently sold to a German company and will be delivered to her new owners in April.
Breton, 45, added: "I have spent almost eight years of my life on that ship. Every day is different, there's not a single day that is the same and that is what makes the job. There is no professional maritime history within my family but I grew up with two neighbours who went to sea and they got me involved [in the industry]."
"It was a big occasion when I got promoted to the rank of captain but I knew about it a couple of weeks beforehand so I had time to prepare. It was one of the worst-kept secrets you could imagine. The ship was sold 16 months ago to a German company and we chartered it back in order to honour our remaining cruises. We are unfortunately on a countdown to its hand over on April 29. We will all miss her, especially the passengers. I will be moving on to another P&O Cruises ship in March and then I'll be joining another cruise in Australia later in the year."
