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

  • Sara Jenner
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: British

For as long as Sara can remember, she has had a passion for travel and for finding the wildest and most remote places on Earth.

When she was only 10, she sold her favorite pink bicycle to start her travel fund. 

Every birthday and Christmas, she added more to the kitty until finally, at age 18, she realized her dream of diving the Great Barrier Reef! At that moment, the travel addict was born.

Ever since, Sara has been traveling the globe in search of wild and remote places.

She has also spent many months volunteering on wildlife conservation projects to help some of our most iconic and endangered species.

Sara’s love of wildlife and the outdoors has taken her to all seven continents.

She has traveled extensively in the polar regions, including the Antarctic Peninsula, the Falklands, South Georgia, Spitsbergen, Greenland, Iceland, Baffin Island, and the Canadian High Arctic.

Back home in the UK, Sara used her knowledge to work as a polar specialist for several years, but in 2016 she joined Oceanwide Expeditions, trading life on land for a life at sea.

Sara is a keen wildlife photographer, and when she is not in the polar regions, she enjoys working as a photographic guide in Botswana, specifically the beautiful Chobe River and Okavango Delta.

Read an interview here >
  • Christian Engelke
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: German

Since his first vacation to Norway in 1996, Christian Engelke has suffered from “Scandinavia fever.” Since then he has been exploring Norway, Sweden, and Greenland by foot, skis, and kayak.

  • Claudio Ghiglione
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Italian

Claudio was born in Italy in 1983. He is a nature photographer, expedition guide, and marine ecologist specializing in the polar regions.

  • Florence Kuyper
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Eduardo Rubio
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Guatemalan
  • Marcel Paul
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Pippa Low
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: British
  • Hans Verdaat
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Rinie van Meurs
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Adam Turner
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: British
Read more >
  • Jan Belgers
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Ali Liddle
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: British
Read more >
  • Philipp Schaudy
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Austrian
Read more >

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

  • Joachim Schiel
  • Function: Captain
  • Nationality: German

Born near the German city of Cologne, Joachim Schiel grew up some distance from the coast. His first contact with vessels came from the yearly sailing trips he made with a youth group on the Baltic.

After finishing school, serving in the military, and working a few different jobs, he started an apprenticeship in boat building. It was not long, however, before he realized he would rather work on vessels at sea than in the shipyard.

So in 1998, he started his sailing career on tall ships. Over the following years, he sailed during the summer and attended nautical college in Enkhuizen during the winter. This led to sailing on many different vessels all over the world before he became a captain in 2006.

He first sailed to Svalbard in 2009 and instantly fell in love with the Arctic, preferring to sail in the far north ever since. He has been on Rembrandt van Rijn since 2017, making voyages in Northern Norway, Svalbard, and East Greenland.

When Joachim is not sailing the polar regions, he likes to go hiking and diving in the warmer areas of the world.

  • 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.

  • Ernesto Barria
  • Function: Captain
  • Nationality: Chilean

Ernesto Barria was born in Santiago, Chile, into a family with strong bonds to the sea: His father, grandfather, and several uncles all share a love of the ocean.

Read an interview here >
  • Evgeny Levakov
  • Function: Captain
  • Nationality: Russian
Read more >
  • Arthur Yakovlev
  • Function: Captain
  • Nationality: Russian
  • Remmert Koster
  • Function: Captain
  • Nationality: Dutch

Office

Head Office:
Fax: +31 (0)118 410 417
USA & Canada reservations:
Fax: +1 (0)281 749 8220
  • Alexandra den Dikken
  • Function: Senior Graphic Designer
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Grace Vidal
  • Function: Reservations, North-America
  • Nationality: American
  • Michael Frauendorfer
  • Function: Hotel Operations Manager
  • Nationality: Austrian
  • Toto Vermue
  • Function: Sales Accountmanager
  • Nationality: Dutch
Read more >
  • Piet Vink
  • Function: Managing Director
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Florian J. Piper
  • Function: Director Sales | Arctic program
  • Nationality: German
  • George Janes
  • Function: Senior Copywriter
  • Nationality: British
  • Andreas Diesing
  • Function: Key Account Manager for the German speaking countries
  • Nationality: German
  • Stefan Pruimboom
  • Function: Staffing and Operations Advisor
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Sebastiaan Schijf
  • Function: Financial Controller
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Adam Turner
  • Function: CXO - Head of Expedition Operations
  • Nationality: British
Read more >
  • Elza Back
  • Function: Account Assistant
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Maria del Pilar Fernandez
  • Function: International Sales Manager
  • Nationality: Chilean
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  • Femke Wolfert
  • Function: Staffing Manager
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Majanda Fens
  • Function: Reservations Manager
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • John Yeh
  • Function: Sales Representative China & South Asia & Oceania
  • Nationality: Chinese
  • Danique van Burken
  • Function: Senior Marketing Manager
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Ko de Korte
  • Function: Consultant
  • Nationality: Dutch
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  • Bas Jumelet
  • Function: Assistant Hotel Operations Manager
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Franklin Braeckman
  • Function: Antarctic Program Manager
  • Nationality: Belgian
  • Marie Rose Porreca
  • Function: Reservations, North-America
  • Nationality: American
  • Karin Toornstra
  • Function: Reservations
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Erik Hageman
  • Function: CFO
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Michel van Gessel
  • Function: Director
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Nyrée Siereveld-Verstraete
  • Function: Account Assistant
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Loraine van Huizen
  • Function: Online Marketeer
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Dorine van Boekhout
  • Function: Reservations
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Gabi Merten
  • Function: Reservations for the German speaking market
  • Nationality: German
  • Kees Matthes
  • Function: Nautical Superintendent
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Marina Joglar
  • Function: Reservations, North-America
  • Nationality: American
  • Sasha Rachkova
  • Function: Online Marketeer
  • Nationality: Russian
  • Teun van ‘t Verlaat
  • Function: Technical Superintendent
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Marissa Medrano
  • Function: Accounting
  • Nationality: American
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