Gizem Turan makes history as the first female captain at Turkey's Coast Guard, taking command of the Kurtarma-8 tugboat.
A glass ceiling has been broken in Turkish maritime. For the first time in its history, the General Directorate of Coastal Safety (KEGM) welcomes a female captain on active duty at the tugboat bridge. Gizem Turan, a graduate of the Department of Marine Transportation Engineering at Istanbul Technical University, began her role as captain on the Kurtarma-8 Tugboat after completing the necessary maritime service and professional qualification processes.
Challenging training and maritime experience
In the maritime sector, the title of captain is not earned solely through academic graduation. Long sea internships, periods of watchkeeping, examinations, and certification processes constitute the unseen but most demanding aspects of the profession. Turan successfully completed all these stages and took on the bridge responsibility within the KEGM fleet.
Tugboat captains serving in the Coastal Safety fleet are responsible not only for the maneuvering and management of the vessel but also for emergency interventions, rescue operations, escorting vessels carrying hazardous cargo, and ensuring the safe execution of port maneuvers. Particularly in busy and current-laden waters like the Bosphorus, tugboat captaincy is considered one of the highest attention and reflex-requiring duties in maritime operations.
Critical duty on Kurtarma-8
The Kurtarma-8 Tugboat, where Gizem Turan serves, plays an active role in KEGM's emergency intervention and rescue capacity. Such tugboats are among the first teams to respond in critical operations, including assisting vessels experiencing mechanical failures, cases of drifting, fire interventions, and preventing environmental pollution risks.
Increasing presence of women in maritime
In recent years, while the number of female students in maritime faculties in Turkey has increased, the number of women in active ship captaincy and especially in operational roles like tugboat captaincy has remained quite limited. Turan's commencement of duty is seen as a significant step demonstrating that women can occupy positions not only in office and shore roles but also at the very center of operations in the sector.
Gizem Turan, who has earned the title of 'first female captain' within KEGM, is viewed as a symbolic threshold in both the institution's history and Turkish maritime. Commands from a female captain now resonate on the bridge in one of the busiest points of maritime traffic.
Source: SeaNews Türkiye
