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

  • Pippa Low
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: British

Pippa has worked as a marine guide and skipper for 10 years, primarily in Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, and the polar regions.

A marine scientist specialising in marine mammal research and conservation, she splits her time between the hemispheres and loves showing the public the marine world and all it has to offer.

Growing up on the coast of the incredible Moray Firth sparked in Pippa a love for the marine world and its inhabitants. She spent every spare minute in, on, or under the water, and her professional life reflected this love from a young age. She became an instructor in various marine disciplines, studying marine biology at universities in Scotland and Australia.

Upon completion of her degree, Pippa worked as a marine mammal observer, scientific diver, and research assistant on various research projects. She has worked in photo ID, migration, distribution, and behavioural studies on a range of marine mammals, developing a keen interest in marine mammal conservation through outreach and research.

After working in the Ross Sea region of Antarctica as a research assistant, she fell in love with Antarctica. Pippa now works as a full-time guide and assistant expedition leader in the Arctic and Antarctica. Between seasons, she still finds time to work on research projects.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Philipp Schaudy
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Austrian
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  • Adam Turner
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: British
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  • Rinie van Meurs
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Claudio Ghiglione
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Italian
  • Marcel Paul
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Florence Kuyper
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Eduardo Rubio
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Guatemalan
  • Hans Verdaat
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Sara Jenner
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: British
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  • Ali Liddle
  • Function: Expedition leader
  • Nationality: British
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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.

  • 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.

  • Evgeny Levakov
  • Function: Captain
  • Nationality: Russian

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.

Read an interview here >
  • Arthur Yakovlev
  • Function: Captain
  • Nationality: Russian
  • Toni Salo
  • Function: Captain
  • Nationality: Finnish
  • 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
  • Maria del Pilar Fernandez
  • Function: International Sales Manager
  • Nationality: Chilean
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  • Piet Vink
  • Function: Managing 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
  • Iris van Zalinge
  • Function: Sales Accountmanager
  • Nationality: Dutch
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  • Ko de Korte
  • Function: Consultant
  • Nationality: Dutch
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  • Marie Rose Porreca
  • Function: Reservations, North-America
  • Nationality: American
  • Erik Hageman
  • Function: CFO
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Marina Joglar
  • Function: Reservations, North-America
  • Nationality: American
  • Femke Wolfert
  • Function: Staffing Manager
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Matt Cutts
  • Function: Content Writer
  • Nationality: American
  • Adam Turner
  • Function: CXO - Head of Expedition Operations
  • Nationality: British
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  • Gabi Merten
  • Function: Reservations for the German speaking market
  • Nationality: German
  • Sebastiaan Schijf
  • Function: Financial Controller
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Jeroen Blanken
  • Function: Hotel Operations Manager
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Majanda Fens
  • Function: Reservations Manager
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Teun van ‘t Verlaat
  • Function: Technical Superintendent
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Franklin Braeckman
  • Function: Antarctic Program Manager
  • Nationality: Belgian
  • Stefan Pruimboom
  • Function: Staffing and Operations Advisor
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Michel van Gessel
  • Function: Director
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Toto Vermue
  • Function: Sales Accountmanager
  • Nationality: Dutch
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  • Alexandra den Dikken
  • Function: Senior Graphic Designer
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Grace Vidal
  • Function: Reservations, North-America
  • Nationality: American
  • Karin Toornstra
  • Function: Reservations
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Danique van Burken
  • Function: Senior Marketing Manager
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Florian J. Piper
  • Function: Director Sales | Arctic program
  • Nationality: German
  • Elza Back
  • Function: Account Assistant
  • Nationality: Dutch
  • Andreas Diesing
  • Function: Key Account Manager for the German speaking countries
  • Nationality: German
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