Starovoitova's career change came after friends told her there were jobs on a ship at the Mumansk Shipping Company, where she started as an orderly on the nuclear container ship Sevmorput. She then studied remotely, graduating from the Admiral S.O. Makarov State Maritime Academy, specialising as a navigation engineer.
The captain's badge was presented during events marking the 80th anniversary of Russia's nuclear industry, with Starovoitova saying: "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."
The Yamal is one of eight nuclear-powered icebreakers in Russia. They operate on the Northern Sea Route, which provides the shortest shipping route between Western Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific Region
The nuclear-powered icebreakers are a key part of Russia's plan to develop the Northern Sea Route, the shipping lane along its north coast, which can cut the distance and speed for shipping goods by sea from northern Europe to Asia. The 5600-kilometre route runs from St Petersburg and Kaliningrad to Vladivostock. Russia says the distance from Murmansk to Japanese ports is halved by using the Northern Sea Route rather than the Suez Canal, with the duration cut from about 37 to 18 days. Global warming has made large-scale navigation along the route more feasible, and it is being facilitated by the construction programme of nuclear-powered icebreakers.
Rosatom reported that in 2024 nearly 37.8 million tonnes of cargo traffic used the Northern Sea Route, 1.6 million tonnes above the previous high. There was also a record number of transit voyages - 92 - which helped set a record of 3 million tonnes of transit cargo. The nuclear icebreaker fleet provided 976 icebreaker escorts.
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