Introducing Captain Francesco Russo: A Life Shaped by the Sea

I was born and raised in Sorrento, a little town on the Gulf of Naples in southern Italy with a deep maritime heritage. Most of the locals live by the sea and most find their way to the ocean sooner or later. When I was six or seven my family rented a boat – a traditional Sorrento-style fishing boat – and we sailed from Sorrento to Capri. My dad let me steer and I felt an instant connection to the sea. Some years later, I joined the nautical school in Piano di Sorrento, where Explora Journeys’ owner, Captain Gianluigi Aponte, also studied many years before. No one in my family had worked on ships and they all asked whether it would be better to pursue a career in tourism! 

In the summer between my fourth and the fifth year of studies, I joined a container vessel called MSC Luisa as a junior deck cadet. Between July and August 2004, I sailed from the Mediterranean to the Far East, through the Suez Canal, up to South Korea and then back to the Med. That was confirmation for me that I was on the right path. I was lucky because a ship is just a piece of steel floating in the sea. What makes a good ship is the people and the crew. I was lucky to have a great Captain that made me love all the small things about being a seaman: things like how to tie a knot and how to read the stars at night over the Indian Ocean. That first experience was critical to shaping my outlook. 

In 2012, I had the privilege to be part of the startup team for one of the new MSC ships built in Saint-Nazaire in the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in France – MSC Divina. During the ceremony when the ship was handed over from the shipyard to MSC, I met with Captain Aponte for the first time. He stopped and shook hands with every single officer and cadet lined up on the gangway, telling each of us how grateful he was for our work. It only lasted 10 seconds, but he was so genuine and sincere. It seems like a very simple thing, but it was a moment I carry in my heart to this day. 

After a familiarisation period aboard EXPLORA I, I spent some time in the shipyard in Genoa for the final stages of construction of EXPLORA II. Then my very first assignment was Staff Captain under the command of Captain Serena Melani aboard EXPLORA II, and that was the beginning of a new adventure. Captain Serena was my mentor, and I had an incredibly fruitful professional relationship with her. She gave me the opportunity to manoeuvre the ship and improve my ship handling skills, so she supported me a lot. The famous Brazilian poet Vinicius de Moraes said: “La vida es el arte del encuentro,” which means that life is the art of meeting people. What you are, what you will become, is the result of the people you meet along your journey. And it's very true. 

Honestly it was a mix of feelings. Initially I experienced self-doubt, but of course, this is just temporary. After a couple of weeks, the relationship between the captain and the ship begins to bloom. Those were the moments where I was able to build a real connection with the ship. Not long after that was my first transatlantic crossing. I had crossed the Atlantic dozens of times, but never as captain. As captain, the weight of responsibility falls squarely upon you. We spent six days crossing the Atlantic and when we came into Tenerife on the morning of the final day, the port was closed because of bad weather. In that moment, you feel like everyone is looking at you. I was finalising the contingency plan and preparing to tell the guests when the storm passed and the port reopened a few hours later. That was a testing moment to face on my first crossing. 

Passion. This is a lifestyle that requires you to be passionate. You can’t be away from home for five, six or seven months just for money or to see the world. You really need to be passionate about what you do. Even if you are doing the same thing every day, passion makes you love what you are doing. As humans, there is also the need to be respectful to each other. Here we live in a close community with more than 40 different nationalities. We need to respect and learn from each other because diversity is so powerful. On the Bridge team we have officers with different backgrounds, experiences and nationalities. We are open-minded and have a healthy and supportive environment that allows us all to grow and jointly face the issues and challenges that arise at sea.