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 >
  • Rinie van Meurs
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Dutch

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.

  • Marcel Paul
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Dutch

Marcel has been a passionate traveler since his teens and has led hiking groups in Austria, Switzerland, England, Wales, and Scotland.

  • Claudio Ghiglione
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Italian
  • Christian Engelke
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: German
  • Philipp Schaudy
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Austrian
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  • Florence Kuyper
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Chris Long
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: New Zealander
  • Jan Belgers
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • George Kennedy
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Australian
  • Adam Turner
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: British
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  • Adam Burke
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: British
  • Ali Liddle
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: British
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  • Hans Verdaat
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Pippa Low
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: British
  • Eduardo Rubio
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Guatemalan

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.

  • Jonny Baird
  • Function: Mountain Leader and Advisor
  • Nationality: British

Since 2017, Jonny has worked regularly as a mountaineering guide and as Lead Mountain Guide on the Antarctic Peninsula.

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

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

Captains

  • 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.

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.

  • 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.

  • 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 >
  • Joachim Schiel
  • Function: Captain
  • Nationality: German

Office

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