Maria Kristina Javellana, the first Filipino woman to command a merchant vessel, started sailing as a cadet after attending the Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific (MAAP) in 2006. Since then, she has specialised in working on tankers of various sizes.
She joined Stolt-Nielsen from the training ship Kapitan Felix Oca after the owner’s representative was so impressed by her seamanship that he asked if she could join the Norwegian operator’s cadetship programme.
