"I Earn £80,000 in Just 6 Months Working a High-Risk, Remote Job—Plus, I Only Work Half the Year and Get Free Meals!"

RAISED in a tiny fishing village in Norway, Lisa Henriksen only works for six months of the year and earns more than £80,000.

The 39-year-old sails thousands of miles across oceans for weeks at a time – at the helm of a 50,000-tonne tanker.

Female tanker captain Lise Henriksen, the first female tanker captain at Odjfell Credit: Lise Henriksen Captain Lise commands a 50,000-tonne chemical tanker across the high seas Credit: Lise Henriksen

Working in seven-week stints before another seven weeks off, Lise is her company’s first ever female tanker captain.

Brought up in Nuvsvåg, in northern , home to just 70 people, Lise is no stranger to the sea. She started going out on her dad’s small fishing boat when she was child.

Her dad had started as a fisherman at just 14-years-old. Now he’s 73, and still out on his boat whenever he gets the chance.

But Lise had bigger dreams.

She worked for a couple of years as a fisherwoman herself, but has since taken charge of a much bigger vessel.

In 2023, Lise made as Odfjell’s first ever female captain – and now sails her tanker across the world ferrying essential chemicals.

If you drink Coke, or use moisturiser, she’s probably commanded the ship that brought the ingredients across the high seas.

Although Lise was raised on boats, she had never expected to find herself in command of a huge chemical tanker – and no other woman had done it at Odfjell before her.

Lise was raised fishing with her dad, and still goes out on his boat when she’s not captaining her tanker Credit: Lise Henriksen Captain Lise spent time as a fisherwoman before heading to nautical college to chase dreams of commanding much bigger vessels Credit: Lise Henriksen

After nautical college, she started work as a seafarer in 2009 and worked her way up the ranks. It was only when she made chief mate that she realised the top job was within her reach.

She told The Sun: “I don’t think it was the plan originally to become a captain.”

Lise was ecstatic when she got the big promotion.

The captain job pays more than £80,000 – although she would not reveal her exact salary.

She said: “It was quite a big deal to get up there and show that we are able to do the same work as the guys.”

Lise said many of her female colleagues stop working at sea when they have children, or move to port-based roles.

“It was about time that the company got their first female captain and I hope I can inspire others to do the same,” she said.

“More girls are following me up the ranks now in different positions on board. At the moment we are actually five girls on board on this vessel, so that’s quite good.”

Lise told The Sun: ‘It was about time that the company got their first female captain and I hope I can inspire others to do the same’ Credit: Lise Henriksen The view from the bridge of Captain Lise’s tanker Credit: Lise Henriksen

Lise works with different crews on each trip, currently shipping huge loads across the Atlantic from the US to .

Five women onboard out of 28 total crew is an unusual, Lise said. She has been on many where she is the only woman on the whole ship – but things are changing.

Lise said: “There has been more campaigning in Norway for seafarers to tell people this is a job for girls also, it’s not only a boy job.

“Also a lot of inspiring women seafarers around the world are on social media and many girls look up to them. I think it makes them see that there’s a chance for us also to do this.”

Lise loves life at sea – and says she even sleeps better on board than she does at home.

“I very well on the ship, much better than when I’m home. Especially if the vessel is rolling a bit I sleep even better,” she said.

And commanding the ship through busy ports is a challenge she relishes.

She said: “It’s a big responsibility. You have a big vessel, you have the crew safety, and also we are transporting a lot of cargo that we are going to get safe from one place to another.

“Sometimes when we’re sailing in big ports, I’m thinking it’s quite strange that I’m responsible and I’m the boss of this kind of vessel. So it hits me sometimes that it’s quite a big achievement that I should be proud of.”

“Port is always hectic for us”, Lise said. But when the is nice during sea voyages, she makes sure her crew gets some time to relax.

Lise gets to watch hundreds of beautiful sunsets onboard, as well as amazing wildlife, like dolphins and whales.

She said: “It feels like a calm place when you’re out at sea. You can go out on the bridge swing and just see the sea, see the sunsets and sunrises, it’s amazing.

One of the best bits of the job for Lise is enjoying beautiful ocean sunrises and sunsets Credit: Lise Henriksen

“I don’t know how many pictures I have of the sunset and sunrises around the world.”

The crew even have a pool on deck where they can sunbathe and splash around.

Spending weeks away from home isn’t all sunset and swimming pools.

“You miss a lot of big events over the years,” she said.

“Sometimes you wish you were home to maybe be there for a birthday or baptism or some big events in family and friends’ lives. But we have a very good crew on board and we are quite close – it’s like having a second family while you’re away from home.”

It’s an intense job, but after seven weeks of hard sailing, Lise has the same amount of time off.

She said: “It’s very nice, you have a half of the year off and when you’re on holiday, you don’t need to think about the work because there’s somebody else on board doing your work, you can be completely off.

“You don’t need to have your mind on, and think, ‘oh I need to answer some emails’, or ‘I need to do something else with regards to work’.

“You have proper free time and get to spend it with family and friends and travelling a bit.

“When I’m home, I still love going out on the fishing boat with my father when I have the chance.”

A captain’s life for Lise is busy – but she knows that when each voyage is done she can return to the peace of her dad’s fishing boat.