Growing up Mariana Adicaginitoba Qoro had a dream to become the first female ship captain in her village and the wider Nadi district.

With sheer determination and hardwork she achieved this dream whilst completing her diploma in Class Five master from the Fiji Maritime Academy last year.

Today, Qoro is the only female captain for South Sea Cruises (SSC) operating full and half day cruises to a selection of islands in the Mamanuca Group including Castaway, Beachcomber, Mana, Malolo and SSC’s very own South Sea Island and Malamala Beach Club Fiji.

The 34-year-old Nawaka, Nadi native began her career at the South Sea Cruises in 2010 as a reservation consultant.

Even though this wasn’t her dream job, the push to keep on striving until she achieved her dreams never stopped.

“I have always worked for the tourism industry and I did not straight away begin my career as a ship captain,” Ms Qoro said.

“After five years being a consultant, I decided to change my career to deck hand and it was then that I was pursuing my studies,” she said

“I then continued and persevered through my studies for another three years until today, and now I am a Class 5 Master.”

Growing up in a family of four siblings, Ms Qoro learnt a great deal from her parents who taught her to be resilient and to have a heart that focused on achieving her dream career.

“My parents were good role models for me, they worked so hard and always gave me their 100 per cent support.

“Growing up with Indo-Fijians and attending multiracial schools was something that they had encouraged in our family, especially when there was a spirit of competition within our peers.

“There was always healthy competition academically that helped us excel.”

Career

With the nine vessels belonging to South Sea Cruises, Qoro is chief mate on the vessel Panther.

Mariana Adicaginitoba Qoro.

She said while working in a male dominated industry was a challenge, she has developed a positive attitude and mentality to progress to break barriers in the industry.

“The journey in this life is never easy but what motivates me is to be always successful and to stand out in the crowd in everything I do especially in a male dominated field.

“This is one field of work that is never a first choice in a woman’s career path so I had decided to give it a go.

“To progress in this field is like a dream come true and I am happy and satisfied with where I have reached in life.

“I have developed a positive attitude and the mentality to progress, in that way I don’t see gender as a challenge.”

Ms Qoro attended Nadi Sangam School and Swami Vivekananda College for her primary and secondary education.

She is married to the Salawa family of Namotomoto Village Nadi and has two daughters Amelia June, 15-years-old and Reapi Delta who is 14.

Ms Qoro said: “Something good about working for South Sea Cruises is that we travel on a daily basis, I start at 7.30am and finish sailing at around 6 pm. In that way I get to come home early and spend time with my family especially my daughters.

Mariana Adicaginitoba Qoro (front) with a colleague at work.

“I would also like to thank my husband who has been very supportive of my career from Day One.”

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