Captain Mark Rowden

Ship: Noordam

Graduating from Fleetwood Nautical College in 1986, Mark Rowden began as a junior seaman and deck cadet for Blue Star Line Ship Management and joined Chevron Corporation in 1992, working his way up to third officer and finally was brought on board Holland America Line in 1998. For the next several years, he climbed the ranks to shipyard chief officer, where he was part of the team behind the construction of the 81,000-ton Westerdam.

Captain Rowden received other maritime certifications, including Master Mariner and courses in Nautical Science and, from 2007 to 2008, he worked with Sultan of Oman Royal Yachts for the Al Said, one of the largest state-owned yachts in the world. In his role as commander, he worked on ship factory acceptance testing and inspection at the Al Said at Lurssen Shipyard in Germany

In 2008, Captain Rowden rejoined Holland America Line. Vessels under Captain Rowden’s command consistently rate as top-performing ships in the Holland America Line fleet, receiving top marks from inspectors and outstanding Carnival RAS audit scores.