Oceanwide Expeditions

Oceanwide Expeditions
Tour Operator
Industry Tourism
Founded 1996
Headquarters Vlissingen, Zeeland, Netherlands
Products Expedition Cruise Tours
Website www.oceanwide-expeditions.com

Oceanwide Expeditions is a Dutch company organising tours to the Arctic and Antarctic regions. With their own fleet of vessels they observe wildlife and visit historical sights in remote areas with hardly any infrastructure. These areas are almost only reachable by boat. The tours take passengers to the Arctic and Antarctic regions with different points of destinations in which they can go ashore, mostly by small boats from the main vessels.

History

The Dutch “Plancius Foundation” was the first cruise operator to organise expedition cruises on a yearly basis from 1983. Oceanwide Expeditions continued with the activities of the Plancius Foundation in 1996.

The origin of the Plancius Foundation started with the Arctic Centre of the University of Groningen where the interest for a research study to the Dutch whaling in Spitsbergen from the 17th century was launched. With Louwrens Hacquebord leading this initiative, the ship Pollox was purchased in 1979 and renamed Plancius to accommodate the Smeerenburg expeditions.[1]

Alongside the presence of scientists in these expeditions, there were also tourists onboard who paid for their journey. This was a part of the later financial supports for the expeditions. Eventually financial troubles overtook the "Plancius Foundation" and the ship was sold.

Awards and recognitions

In 2011 Oceanwide Expeditions became the fourth time winner of the World Travel Award “Worlds leading polar expedition operator.”[2]

Partnerships

Oceanwide Expeditions works closely with organizations which stand for preservation of natural habitats and environmental conditions. In the Arctic this is the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators (AECO)[3] and Clean Up Svalbard. In the Antarctic this is International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO)[4] and BirdLife International.

Fleet

Oceanwide operates four vessels of different classes. The sailing vessels S/V Rembrandt van Rijn and S/V Noorderlicht and the former strengthened Royal Dutch Navy oceanographic research vessels, MV Plancius[5] and MV Ortelius[6] (a former special purpose vessel of the Russian Academy of Science). All of the vessels are equipped with rigid-hulled inflatable boats for ship to shore landings in remote areas and the Ortelius is fitted to carry two helicopters.

Destinations

MV Ortelius in Antarctica
MV Plancius in Longyearbyen
SV Noordelicht in Greenland

Arctic region

Antarctic region

The best time of the year to visit the Arctic region is in and around the summer of the northern hemisphere April - September and the best time to visit the Antarctic region is in the summer of the southern hemisphere October - March.

See also

References

  1. ↑ de Korte, J. "A Tourist in the Arctic" (PDF). University of Groningen. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  2. ↑ "World Travel Awards: Oceanwide Expeditions". www.worldtravelawards.com. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  3. ↑ "Our Members". Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  4. ↑ "Service Providers and Operators". International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  5. ↑ Abbuhl, Ruedi & Priska (2010). "Antarktis mit MV Plancius". Polar News (in German). Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  6. ↑ Bryant, Dennis (May 2013). "Maritime Musings: MV Ortelius". maritimeprofessional.com. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
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