Karin Stahre-Janson is a Swedish

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...

captain. When she became the commanding officer of ''

Monarch of the Seas MS ''Monarch'' (formerly ''Monarch of the Seas'') was the second of three s owned by Royal Caribbean International. Beginning on April 1, 2013, ''Monarch'' was operated by RCCL's Pullmantur Cruises, before being sold for scrap in 2020 following th ...

'' in 2007, it was the first time that a woman had been in command of a "mega" cruise ship. She has also been placed in command of ''

Serenade of the Seas GTS ''Serenade of the Seas'' is a operated by Royal Caribbean International. She was completed in 2003. History The ship was built at Meyer Werft yard in Papenburg, Germany and is Ship registration, registered in Nassau, Bahamas. Her Ship spons ...

'' and ''

Majesty of the Seas ''Majesty of the Seas'' (subsequently renamed ''Majesty'', then ''Majesty of the Oceans'') is a owned by Seajets and formerly owned and operated by Royal Caribbean International. She was built at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyards in Sain ...

''.

Maritime career

Karin Stahre-Janson was born in

Strömstad Strömstad is a locality and the seat of Strömstad Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 6,288 inhabitants in 2010. For historical reasons, Strömstad is called a ''city'' despite its small population. Strömstad became part of S ...

, Sweden. In her youth, Stahre-Janson was involved with a sailing club. She attended and graduated from the

Chalmers University of Technology Chalmers University of Technology ( sv, Chalmers tekniska högskola, often shortened to Chalmers) is a Swedish university located in Gothenburg that conducts research and education in technology and natural sciences at a high international leve ...

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

Nautical science Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...

. Her first job on a ship was at the age of 19, when she took a six week long position on a petroleum tanker as a junior seaman. She initially pursued a career on-board cargo vessels for some nine years but moved to the cruise industry after applying for a vacancy as a superintendent on

Royal Caribbean International Royal Caribbean International (RCI), also formerly known as Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), is a cruise line brand founded in 1968 in Norway and organised as a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group since 1997. Based in Miami, Flo ...

. She subsequently held staff captain positions on both ''

'' and ''

''. In 2007, she was named as the captain of ''

'', making her the first woman to be placed in command of a modern "mega" cruise ship. By 2010, Stahre-Janson had been placed in command of ''Serenade of the Seas'', when she and the crew provided humanitarian supplies to Saint Lucia following the destruction caused by

Hurricane Tomas Hurricane Tomas was a moderately powerful Atlantic hurricane which was the most recent storm in a calendar year to strike the Windward Islands. The nineteenth named storm and twelfth hurricane of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season, Tomas deve ...

. She moved to become captain of ''Majesty of the Seas'' in late 2013. Stahre-Janson now lives in Gothenburg.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stahre-Janson, Karin Living people Sea captains Female sailors People from Strömstad Municipality People from Gothenburg Chalmers University of Technology alumni 21st-century Swedish women Year of birth missing (living people)

Maritime career

See also

References