Leanne Robertson is currently working in the position onboard Azura while awaiting official confirmation of her promotion.

Reporting to the staff chief engineer, Robertson will be responsible for the management of the ship’s 90-strong engineering team in maintaining the main propulsion machinery and engine room auxiliaries.

Robertson started her career in marine engineering in January 2005 and qualified as a third engineer in December 2007 and as a second engineer in April 2013.

She has spent the last five years working onboard Azura and Ventura with a brief spell on Cunard’s Queen Mary 2. She aims to obtain her chief engineer’s licence in 2019.

The news comes as the latest milestone for women working in technical seafaring roles, after Virgin Voyages unveiled its Scarlet Squad programme earlier this month.

The scheme is aimed at recruiting, supporting and mentoring “female shipboard talent” as well as developing opportunities for women to “access leadership roles in onboard areas such as marine, technical and hotel management”, which the line said statistically showed low numbers of female leadership.

Robertson said: “I’m incredibly proud to be P&O Cruises’ first female engineer and hope that my success will inspire and motivate other women to achieve their dreams.

“It just goes to show that if you study and work hard, you can succeed, even in a career such as engineering that is traditionally male dominated.”

P&O Cruises senior vice-president, Paul Ludlow, added: “Everyone at P&O Cruises is absolutely delighted that Leanne has achieved her promotion to first engineer. This is such an important milestone in our company’s history and I look forward to seeing more women taking on similar roles over the coming years.”