Blanka Margarit
Photo: Igor Polishchuk, Text: Kaja Stradovnik

Margarit Blanka

Alumna of the UL Faculty of Maritime Studies and Transport, she was the first Slovenian woman to command an ocean-going cargo ship, and is today employed by the global maritime transport company SolstadFarstad ASA.

In 2005, Blanka Margarit became the first Slovenian woman to captain an ocean-going cargo vessel. She is also the only woman to have attained the professional rank of long voyage captain, the highest rank in the merchant navy. She captained the motor vessel Koper, owned by Splošna plovba Piran, with a tonnage of 22,150 tons, length of 157 metres and beam of 25 metres. She was later employed in technical operations on land. 

She then continued her career abroad, with the rank of First Officer in the company NOR Offshore, which was renamed SolstadFarstad ASA. She has worked there since 2012. She started as First Officer, and this year, in April 2018, she took command of the vessel Nor Valiant. SolstadFarstad ASA is one of the biggest global companies in the petroleum industry.