About Quark Expeditions

When it comes to our footprint, the most substantial impact we can have is how we get you, our guest, to the remote Polar environments and how we preserve those majestic environments once we get there.

Quark Expeditions aims to reduce our carbon emissions per passenger by 10% through fleet improvements and changes in order to reduce our impact. We’re working with our supply chain to measure, report and reduce their emissions, and our office and field operations aim to reuse or recycle 100% of waste on Quark Expeditions-owned vessels.

In 2019, an analysis of our historical ship fuel consumption showed that we decreased emissions by 13% from the 5-year average emissions per passenger per day. The purpose of this analysis was to establish a baseline and to further reduce our Scope 1 carbon emissions.

In terms of waste, Quark Expeditions has taken steps to reduce the amount of waste we are sending to landfills, including avoiding single-use plastics and partnering in the SeaGreen recycling initiative in Ushuaia. We’re working towards a zero-waste plan on Quark Expeditions-owned vessels. ....less

Quark Expeditions aims to be the leading expedition investor in outreach projects within the polar regions, working with a wide circumpolar network of scientists, community leaders, and sustainable innovators. Our goal is to contribute a minimum of $500,000 USD each year through in-kind donations, Quark Expeditions funding, and funds from passenger auctions in support of key polar environmental research, community engagement and sustainable development projects.

Thanks to our guests’ support, proceeds from Quark Expeditions’ onboard auctions have contributed an average of $200,000 each year to organizations dedicated to polar environmental research, community engagement, and sustainable development projects.

Some of the organizations we’re supporting this year include the South Georgia Heritage Trust, Penguin Watch, Seabird Watch, and Polar Bears International. ....less

Quark Expeditions is profoundly committed to environmentally responsible tourism. Protecting the places we visit is necessary to ensure we can continue to introduce travellers to the spectacular beauty of the polar wilderness. Through Polar Promise, our comprehensive sustainability strategy framework, we’ve incorporated existing sustainability initiatives into a cohesive plan so we can identify where we can do better or do more.

“Quark Expeditions recognises its responsibility to do more to protect these magnificent places,” says Andrew White, President of Quark Expeditions. “We want to go beyond reducing our footprint. We want to work with other leaders in the industry and with our guests to address the complex and challenging issues facing the polar regions.”

Our Polar Promise framework is made up of four pillars. Each addresses a different aspect of our business, our operations—and ultimately your journey.

Principles
EMBEDDING RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS PRACTICES
Quark Expeditions aims to be the leader in responsible polar tourism, the ‘go-to’ operator for conscious travelers and the preferred partner of the world’s most responsible brands. As a polar-focused tourism operator, our sustainability principles are integral to every decision we make, whether it’s in the polar wilderness or in the places we work every day. We employ the best people in the industry and will lead the industry in the diversification of our workforce. We work to reduce our impact, catalyze change in the industry and help improve our suppliers’ operations.

We’re proud, long-time members in key industry organizations, such as the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators (AECO) and the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO). We adhere to these organizations’ stringent guidelines, which are designed to ensure the Polar Regions are protected for future generations.

Planet
REDUCING OUR FOOTPRINT AND BUILDING RESILIENCE
When it comes to our footprint, the most substantial impact we can have is how we get you, our guest, to the remote Polar environments and how we preserve those majestic environments once we get there.

Quark Expeditions aims to reduce our carbon emissions per passenger by 10% through fleet improvements and changes in order to reduce our impact. We’re working with our supply chain to measure, report and reduce their emissions, and our office and field operations aim to reuse or recycle 100% of waste on Quark Expeditions-owned vessels.

In 2019, an analysis of our historical ship fuel consumption showed that we decreased emissions by 13% from the 5-year average emissions per passenger per day. The purpose of this analysis was to establish a baseline and to further reduce our Scope 1 carbon emissions.

In terms of waste, Quark Expeditions has taken steps to reduce the amount of waste we are sending to landfills, including avoiding single-use plastics and partnering in the SeaGreen recycling initiative in Ushuaia. We’re working towards a zero-waste plan on Quark Expeditions-owned vessels.

Partnerships
CONSERVATION AND IMPACT IN POLAR ENVIRONMENTS
Quark Expeditions aims to be the leading expedition investor in outreach projects within the polar regions, working with a wide circumpolar network of scientists, community leaders, and sustainable innovators. Our goal is to contribute a minimum of $500,000 USD each year through in-kind donations, Quark Expeditions funding, and funds from passenger auctions in support of key polar environmental research, community engagement and sustainable development projects.

Nalunaiqsijiit, the Inuit Cruise Training Initiative, is a program dedicated to providing Nunavummiut with the qualifications and certifications required to work onboard expedition cruise ships, through in situ training and experience onboard ships. Quark Expeditions is excited to have hosted two Nalunaiqsijiit interns onboard Ocean Adventurer during the 2019 Arctic season, and have invited an additional four during the 2019/20 Antarctic Season.

Thanks to our guests’ support, proceeds from Quark Expeditions’ onboard auctions have contributed an average of $200,000 each year to organizations dedicated to polar environmental research, community engagement, and sustainable development projects.

Some of the organizations we’re supporting this year include the South Georgia Heritage Trust, Penguin Watch, Seabird Watch, and Polar Bears International.

Positive Impact
BUILDING OUR GUESTS’ POLAR LEGACY
Quark Expeditions aspires to facilitate a meaningful connection between people and places, between wilderness and humankind, and we firmly believe in the long-lasting exponential impact that travelers can have. We aim to inspire and empower our guests and partners to make positive change, the collective impact of which can be greater than our operational impact. We are facilitating and capturing the positive impact of our guests as part of the Polar Ambassador Program.

For more information about the Polar Ambassador Program, please write to us at PolarAmbassadors@QuarkExpeditions.com ....less

Quark Expeditions aims to be the leader in responsible polar tourism, the ‘go-to’ operator for conscious travelers and the preferred partner of the world’s most responsible brands. As a polar-focused tourism operator, our sustainability principles are integral to every decision we make, whether it’s in the polar wilderness or in the places we work every day. We employ the best people in the industry and will lead the industry in the diversification of our workforce. We work to reduce our impact, catalyze change in the industry and help improve our suppliers’ operations.

We’re proud, long-time members in key industry organizations, such as the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators (AECO) and the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO). We adhere to these organizations’ stringent guidelines, which are designed to ensure the Polar Regions are protected for future generations. ....less

Nalunaiqsijiit, the Inuit Cruise Training Initiative, is a program dedicated to providing Nunavummiut with the qualifications and certifications required to work onboard expedition cruise ships, through in situ training and experience onboard ships. Quark Expeditions is excited to have hosted two Nalunaiqsijiit interns onboard Ocean Adventurer during the 2019 Arctic season, and have invited an additional four during the 2019/20 Antarctic Season. ....less

Lars Wikander and Mike McDowell, the cofounders of Quark Expeditions, took the first group of commercial travellers to the North Pole In 1991. That inaugural, game-changing expedition—the first-ever tourism transit of the Northeast Passage—set Quark Expeditions on a course that would put us at the forefront of polar exploration.

We’ve spent the last three decades taking travellers on polar expeditions to remote parts of the Arctic and Antarctic where no one else has set foot. Polar expeditions have evolved since Quark Expeditions’ 1991 journey aboard the nuclear-powered icebreaker Sovetskiy Soyuz. While that first journey solidified Quark Expeditions’ role as the leader in polar adventure, we’ve not rested on our laurels. We’ve continued to achieve new firsts. We’re forever driven to forge new paths in polar explorations.

We're Proud of our Firsts in the Polar Regions:

1991: Quark Expeditions took the first group of travellers to the North Pole.

1992: Quark Expeditions undertook the first non-scientific visit to Emperor penguin rookeries.

1997: We completed the first circumnavigation of Antarctica for commercial passengers

1999: We completed our first circumnavigation of the Arctic Ocean

2004: Quark Expeditions was the first to confirm the most northerly Emperor penguin rookery near Snow Hill in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica

2008: Quark Expeditions hosted the maiden voyage of the nuclear icebreaker 50 Years of Victory to the North Pole

2011: Our “Three Arctic Islands” trip was voted one of National Geographic Traveller's 50 Tours of a Lifetime.

2013: Quark Expeditions hosted Jonathan Shackleton (cousin of famous polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton) and Falcon Scott (grandson of polar explorer Robert Falcon Scott) on an expedition to the 7th Continent where they camped out together.

2013: Quark Expeditions hosted the first-ever floating polar film festival onboard the Sea Spirit

2017: Quark Expeditions started Quark Academy, making us the only expedition company in the polar regions with its own proprietary polar training institution.

2019: Quark Expeditions commenced the building of our very first purpose-built polar vessel, Ultramarine

2019: Quark Expeditions advances its sustainability framework with the launch of Polar Promise.

2019: Quark Expeditions offers expeditions into the remote, seldom-visited Russian archipelagoes of Novaya Zemlya, Franz Josef Land and Severnaya Zemlya. ....less

IAATO, AECO ....less

World Travel Awards: World's Leading Polar Expedition Operator.
Amadeus and World Travel Market Travel Experience Awards: Blow the Budget.
Travel Weekly's Magellan Award: Eco-Friendly Cruise Ship. ....less

Quark Expeditions will continue to lead change through community engagement and by supporting scientific, conservation and sustainable development in polar communities. ....less

Book with Confidence, Travel with Peace of Mind

Risk-free cancellations and rebooking policies. Early book bonuses. Reduced deposits. It’s important to us that our guests feel confident when booking their polar voyage. In addition, Quark Expeditions has upgraded health and safety protocols in four key areas to safeguard guest health and well-being. We’ve also assembled a taskforce of physicians and industry leaders to develop one of the most comprehensive health and safety plan in the expedition industry so you can enjoy peace of mind on your polar journey.

Quark Expeditions has assembled a taskforce of multi-disciplinary experts—including physicians, industry leaders and polar specialists—to develop one of the most rigorous health and safety plans in the expedition industry. Our newly enhanced safety protocols will allow our passengers to feel confident and secure so they can enjoy all the beauty, adventure and immersive off-ship adventures the Polar Regions have to offer. Learn about the four key pillars at the core of our health and safety procedures: clean expedition ships, healthy staff, healthy passengers and healthy expedition environment. ....less

Specialising exclusively in expeditions to Antarctica and the Arctic, Quark Expeditions has been the leading innovator of polar adventure since the company took the first group of consumer travellers to the North Pole in 1991. Quark Expeditions has been innovating ever since.

With a diverse fleet of specially-equipped small expedition vessels and icebreakers—some of them equipped with helicopters—Quark Expeditions delivers deeply immersive polar experiences—and is able to take guests deeper into the Polar Regions than anyone else.

Led by passionate and seasoned expedition teams including scientists, wildlife experts and researchers, Quark Expeditions offers an onboard program that enriches the passenger experience. ....less