Our staff

Adam has always had a love of the outdoors and adventure, from an early age he dreamt of visiting exotic places and immersing himself in other cultures.

This love of the outdoors led him to work teaching adventurous activities and for over fifteen years this pursuit has given him the opportunity to live and work all over the globe. He has taught sailing in Australia, paddle sports on Europe’s rivers and led expeditions in Africa.

After spending five years teaching white water safety & rescue and boat handling techniques to the fire brigade, he moved on to providing marine science support in Antarctica. He has spent over five years living between the Antarctic continent and the island of South Georgia, including overwintering twice.

Whilst providing science support he spent his time in Antarctica managing boating operations and helming RIBs for diving operations. This covered understanding environmental changes and its effects, wildlife monitoring and counting as well as water sampling for a long-term data collection.

Adam enjoys travelling with his partner who shares the same values and love of the outdoors. This has taken them from deserts to rain forests and ultramarathons in the mountains.

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

After leaving the Navy, he continued to dive mainly around the UK, diving wrecks and always looking for a new story.

He is qualified as a dive instructor with BSAC and PADI and is certified to operate Drager Dolphin and Buddy Inspiration rebreathers.

Michael has worked for Oceanwide Expeditions for five years and enjoys giving divers a safe and exploratory experience in the polar regions.

Michael’s biggest tip for polar divers is to slow down, look around, and enjoy the environment.

He looks forward to enjoying it with you.

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.