She will brave icebergs, the threat of polar bears and 20ft ocean waves, but Ella Hibbert is determined to become the first person to circumnavigate the Arctic ice cap solo.

The 28-year-old yachtmaster and daughter of a Gulf war veteran, aims to sail Yeva, her 38ft boat, 10,000 miles alone over five months around the shrinking ice surrounding the North pole.

She will navigate both Northwest and Northeast Passages as she crosses the Arctic Ocean.

Setting off in two weeks’ time, she will skirt seven countries including Russia as she navigates through the freezing iceberg-laden waters with only her sailing skills and hi-tech mapping and surveillance equipment to avoid collisions or danger.

At times, she will have to sleep in 20-minute slots, constantly waking herself up to check the horizon, her radar and the camera positioned on her mast for icebergs, other vessels or obstructions.

In preparation, she has taken a firearms course to learn how to fire flares to scare off the polar bears and medical training so she can do her own stitches and sutures or insert a cannula in her own veins for IV drips.

Her expedition – three years in the making – has only become possible because of the opening of the Northwest Passage over the past decade due to the melting ice from climate change.