Our staff

Oceanwide staff

The polar regions are what we do. From our expert expedition guides to our impeccable crew to our diversely skilled office staff, the OEX team is all about giving you the utmost experience of the Arctic, Antarctica, and the sub-Antarctic. Seasoned passengers of our own epic voyages, we bring to the table not only a love of the exotic polar world but also a combined wealth of expertise unrivaled by any other polar tour operator. Join us on one of our adventurous voyages, and let us share with you all there is to see, do, and explore in Earth’s most remote frontiers.

Expedition staff

  • Florence Kuyper
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Dutch

Florence is a world traveler with a passion for the polar regions, remote nature, deserts, history, and nomadic peoples.

After receiving her Master’s Degree in Educational and Organizational Psychology in the Netherlands, she worked as a consultant-manager in social affairs.

In 2004 Florence went to the big white desert of Antarctica for the first time, and her passion for this continent has drawn her back ever since.

But she also enjoys the heat, having crossed 1,200 km (745 miles) of harsh Mongolian desert on foot with an expedition team and one Bactrian camel.

Florence has lived at the historical British base of Port Lockroy on the Antarctic Peninsula, where she served as a base leader, and also works on sailing yachts in the Arctic and Antarctica.

She has been an expedition guide and leader in both polar regions since 2012, and she looks forward to sharing her knowledge and unlimited passion for the polar regions with you.

  • Jan Belgers
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Dutch

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.

  • Katja Riedel
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: German

Katja grew up in Germany, where she completed her Ph.D. in Atmospheric Chemistry.

Read an interview here >
  • Ali Liddle
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: British
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  • Rinie van Meurs
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Christian Engelke
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: German
  • Sara Jenner
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: British
  • Martin Berg
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Swedish
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  • Adam Turner
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: British
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  • Philipp Schaudy
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Austrian
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  • Beau Pruneau
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Canadian
  • Pippa Low
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: British

Activity staff

  • Henrik Enckell
  • Function: Dive Team Leader & Advisor
  • Nationality: Swedish

Henrik is an experienced dive leader, rebreather instructor trainer, and one of the first dive masters to bring tourists diving in Antarctica.

Henrik has been diving for over 25 years and teaches all levels of recreational and technical diving up to Advanced Trimix CCR.

He runs the IART (International Association of Rebreather Trainers) Regional Office for Northern Europe and is a member of the IART Board of Advisors.

Henrik is a keen wreck diver and has been involved in deep-wreck expeditions all over the world. Some of the interesting wrecks he has visited are the WW2 disasters General von Steuben and Wilhelm Gustloff in the Baltic as well as the HMS Victoria ("the vertical wreck") at 145 meters (475 feet) off the Lebanese coast.

His interest in both the ocean and space has engaged him in projects with the European Space Agency (Mars500 Project) and SeaSpace Exploration and Research Society (Project Poseidon), among others.

He has a military background, having served in peace keeping and enforcing missions in the Middle East and former Yugoslavia.

He has been leading dive expeditions in Antarctica and the Arctic for almost 20 years in remote and challenging waters, many of which have never been dived before.

Henrik holds an M.Sc. Degree in Electrical Engineering and works in the automotive industry when not traveling the polar regions.

He has lived and worked in Tokyo for two years but currently lives in India with his wife, three teenage daughters, and five-year-old son.

  • Michael Green
  • Function: Dive Team Leader and Advisor
  • Nationality: British

Michael began diving in 1980, training with the Royal Navy in Portsmouth Harbour.

Captains

  • Remmert Koster
  • Function: Captain
  • Nationality: Dutch

Remmert Koster was born in the Netherlands, and from a young age he was convinced he would become a captain.

After completing nautical college, he sailed general cargo ships for several years before switching to heavy-lift ships, transporting such loads as offshore platforms, Dutch Royal Navy vessels, submarines, parts for petrochemical plants, dredgers, cranes, and other such items.

Since 2016 he has captained passenger vessels, starting with two mega-yachts and later becoming a captain with Oceanwide Expeditions on its Polar Class 6 vessel, Hondius.

Remmert is married and lives with his wife and her daughter in an old farmhouse in north Holland. When he’s not busy renovating the house, he likes to cook, travel, and spend time with his family and friends.

  • Arthur Yakovlev
  • Function: Captain
  • Nationality: Russian

Arthur Yakovlev was born in Petrozavodsk, the capital and largest city of the Republic of Karelia, in northwestern Russia.

  • Toni Salo
  • Function: Captain
  • Nationality: Finnish

Born and raised in Turku, Finland, Toni grew up in a city with ancient seagoing traditions. He has loved sailing since he was a child, when he regularly went out with his grandfather to experience life on the high seas.

  • Evgeny Levakov
  • Function: Captain
  • Nationality: Russian
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  • Ernesto Barria
  • Function: Captain
  • Nationality: Chilean
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Office

Head Office:
Fax: +31 (0)118 410 417
USA & Canada reservations:
Fax: +1 (0)281 749 8220
  • Erik Hageman
  • Function: CFO
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Ko de Korte
  • Function: Consultant
  • Nationality: Dutch
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  • Marie Rose Porreca
  • Function: Reservations, North-America
  • Nationality: American
  • Teun van ‘t Verlaat
  • Function: Technical Superintendent
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Franklin Braeckman
  • Function: Antarctic Program Manager
  • Nationality: Belgian
  • Dorine van Boekhout
  • Function: Reservations
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Florian J. Piper
  • Function: Director Sales | Arctic program
  • Nationality: German
  • Sebastiaan Schijf
  • Function: Financial Controller
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Majanda Fens
  • Function: Reservations Manager
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Iris van Zalinge
  • Function: Sales Accountmanager
  • Nationality: Dutch
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  • Piet Vink
  • Function: Managing Director
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Grace Vidal
  • Function: Reservations, North-America
  • Nationality: American
  • Elza Back
  • Function: Account Assistant
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Alexandra den Dikken
  • Function: Senior Graphic Designer
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Karin Toornstra
  • Function: Reservations
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Adam Turner
  • Function: CXO - Head of Expedition Operations
  • Nationality: British
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  • Jeroen Blanken
  • Function: Hotel Operations Manager
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Marina Joglar
  • Function: Reservations, North-America
  • Nationality: American
  • Nyrée Siereveld-Verstraete
  • Function: Account Assistant
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Toto Vermue
  • Function: Sales Accountmanager
  • Nationality: Dutch
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  • Loraine van Huizen
  • Function: Online Marketeer
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Gabi Merten
  • Function: Reservations for the German speaking market
  • Nationality: German
  • Stefan Pruimboom
  • Function: Staffing and Operations Advisor
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Michel van Gessel
  • Function: Director
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Andreas Diesing
  • Function: Key Account Manager for the German speaking countries
  • Nationality: German
  • Matt Cutts
  • Function: Content Writer
  • Nationality: American
  • Danique van Burken
  • Function: Senior Marketing Manager
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Femke Wolfert
  • Function: Staffing Manager
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Maria del Pilar Fernandez
  • Function: International Sales Manager
  • Nationality: Chilean
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