Education Duty Officer Diploma, Rostov on Don College
Went to sea 1989
Age 39
Hometown Gelendzhine, Krasmodar Region
Married Irene
Family One young daughter
Hobbies: Open water SCUBA diving in the Black Sea. Sea-fishing. "I like mackerel - it tastes very good."

You name it, Ordinary Seaman Sergei Medvedev has sailed on it. Cement carriers, car carriers, palette carriers, bulkers, container ships and even ten years on a research vessel. He particularly enjoyed the box ships.

"Small crew, different ports, working on container vessels was very good. This ship is good too," he says referring to the Front Champion.

Medvedev has been on the tanker for about seven months now, having joined ITM relatively recently - about a year ago. He reports that he does an eight-hour day and he's been on duty for seven months.

As you can imagine, on his off-duty hours, the first thing he does is relax and then phones his family. "Seven months is a long time to not see them but it's normal," he says.

Still, the native of Gelendzhine, Russia, is looking forward to going home in a few days to see his wife, Irene, and their young daughter. At home, he enjoys SCUBA diving and sea-fishing. And then, it's back to the ships.

Medvedev explains his motivation for going to sea. "It seems a very good idea at the time. The first time you go to sea, it's romantic. The second time, it's for money!" he laughs.

Money, and career advancement, is motivating him right now. He's hoping for a promotion to cadet officer and so he took the Duty Officer Diploma at Rostov on Don College. "It's the next step to move on," he says.

.