Onze vriendelijke en behulpzame collega's zijn u graag van dienst. Ze kunnen alle relevante vragen over onze reizen, de bestemmingen en de schepen van Oceanwide Expeditions beantwoorden. Ze werken allemaal reeds vele jaren met veel enthousiasme voor Oceanwide Expeditions en hebben ook allemaal één of meerdere expeditie reizen naar het Noordpoolgebied en Antarctica meegemaakt, waardoor ze de poolgebieden uit eerste hand kennen.
Beau Pruneau grew up in a log house in the northern Ontario wilderness. He appreciated the great outdoors from an early age, learning wilderness survival, navigation, tracking, and camping.
After graduating college with a degree in sustainable outdoor recreation management, for which he studied wilderness survival, plant ecology, and engine mechanics, he headed to British Columbia to work at a ski resort in the Rocky Mountains.
It was in British Columbia that he met his German wife, with whom he moved back to Ontario to work at another ski resort near the Great Lakes. In 2011 Beau relocated to Germany, trying his hand at making wine, building bikes, and traveling the world with his wife.
He has been recently certified by the Polar Tourism Guides Association (PTGA) as a senior polar expedition guide with advanced qualifications in Zodiac driving, rifle safety, navigation, and other related skills.
Beau works as a guide, lecturer, photographer, and Zodiac mechanic. During his spare time, he is also a travel consultant. He lives in Dresden with his wife and son.
Jan Belgers was born in the Netherlands and currently lives in Rotterdam. He has been working as a professional outdoor guide and expedition leader for many years.
Rinie van Meurs has been an expedition leader since 1989, leading hundreds of expeditions all over the polar regions. The Arctic island of Spitsbergen, the largest in the Svalbard archipelago, is as familiar to him as his own back yard.
Arthur Yakovlev was born in Petrozavodsk, the capital and largest city of the Republic of Karelia, in northwestern Russia.
At the age of 15, he started training at the Maritime College in Petrozavodsk, where he graduated in 1999. At 18 he began his career as a seaman on a dry cargo vessel.
One year later, he was promoted as third officer on the same type of vessel, and later as second officer, working on various cargo vessels until 2007.
That same year, Arthur began work as a second officer on the passenger vessel Marina Cvetaeva, now Ortelius. As of 2008 he has worked for Oceanwide Expeditions, and in 2019 became a captain on Plancius.
Arthur never dreamed that most of his career would be spent in the polar waters, but he considers this his destiny and would not have it any other way.
He is married and has a son, and during vacation he enjoys spending most of his time with his family, while also traveling and enjoying nature.
Ali was born in Germany, where he studied geography but eventually decided to turn his passion for sailing into a profession. He pursued nautical studies in the Netherlands, specializing in traditional sailing ships as well as tall ships.
Evgeny Levakov was born in a small village not far from Nerekhta, an ancient Russian town in the Kostroma region. The closest water to his village was a 15,000 square-meter pond.
