Born in Rybinsk, Russia, Yury Marin began sailing on small sporting yachts at the age of nine. By age 16, he was already preparing for a life of sailing the world's rivers and seas.
Yury attended Rybinsk River College, after which he enjoyed a short period of work on river cruise vessels and the Moscow Social Academy of water transport. Later he was employed with the Murmansk Shipping Company, for which he worked on cargo carriers.
In 2008 he started sailing in north Russia, where he discovered his deep enjoyment of ice navigation. He then made his first visit to Antarctica in 2009, sailing for five months with the Indian Antarctic Expedition, and since then has worked in Antarctica and the Arctic on a yearly basis.
Yury has crossed all longitudes of Antarctica, received accolades for consecutive seasons spent there, and has served as a chief officer on an icebreaker for the US Antarctic Program in the Ross Sea.
In 2014 he began working for Oceanwide, and as of 2019 has been a captain on m/v Ortelius.