P&O Cruises makes Australian history with a female captain

Captain Sarah Breton has boarded the Pacific Pearl as ship’s captain, making Australian history

Captain Breton heads a team of four other female senior officers onboard Pacific Pearl.

Ann Sherry, CEO of Carnival Australia, which operates P&O Cruises, said “the cruise line was proud to welcome Captain Breton to Australia at the helm of Pacific Pearl. We are thrilled to finally have a female Captain in charge of one of our great Australian ships and believe that Captain Breton is a fantastic role model for girls who dream of a career on the high seas.”

“P&O Cruises is really proud to be leading the way by bring the first female captain to the region at the head of a team which boasts four other female senior officers. She is an outstanding officer and one of only three female captains on major ships anywhere in the world,” Ms Sherry added.

Sarah has quite an extensive and very impressive background on the high seas. She has previously served onboard Canberra, Pacific Princess, Grand Princess, former Royal Princess, Star Princess and Sky Princess as third offer, navigator, first officer, second officer and safety officer. First promoted to staff captain onboard the original Pacific Princess back in 2001 she went on to serve onboard Tahitian Princess, Ocean Village, Artemis, the new Pacific Princess and Coral Princess.

Captain Breton said “many women set out on shipping careers but the long periods at sea also led to a high rate of attrition as they grew older and wanted to spend time with family onshore. It takes time to build up the necessary experiences so rising to this position takes many years - there are no shortcuts. The responsibility as captain is huge, but it’s the same responsibility whether you are a man or women and the reaction to my captain’s appointment has been terrific.”