EYOS Expeditions, the world’s foremost provider of private yacht expeditions, and Nansen Polar Expeditions, have joined forces on a long-term strategic alliance coinciding with Nansen’s recent fleet expansion. Together, EYOS and Nansen will combine their collective experience to introduce a new expedition yacht experience in the polar regions.
Next up in our quest to share with the world a deeper look into the people of EYOS Expeditions, we speak with Director of Expedition Operations & Undersea Projects, Kelvin Murray.
Last August, I sat in a small black inflatable boat prepping equipment on a gently-rolling Arctic sea just below 80 degrees North. “How long will the descent be?”, asked one of my colleagues. “About an hour and a half”, I replied; “It’s a shallow dive, only about five and a half thousand meters…” We stopped ourselves and laughed – when did 5,500 meters become a ‘shallow dive?’
In an effort to serve as a resource to Canadian Authorities and contribute to the creation and maintenance of processes that will ensure the responsible use of Canadian Arctic waters, EYOS recently attended the Canadian Arctic Operations Conference.
We continue the series with Olivia de Varreux, the Field Staff Manager at EYOS Expeditions. Olivia has seen much of the world through a porthole after spending years on commercial expedition ships and then some of the world’s most prestigious yachts. Seeing her transition from globetrotter to behind-the-scenes logistician gives a great picture of what Olivia brings to the table at EYOS.
EYOS Expeditions and the Canadian Coast Guard collaborated recently on a series of tabletop and real-time exercises regarding yacht emergency operations in the High Arctic. Also joining the exercises at the invitation of EYOS were representatives of the expedition superyachts Legend and Hanse Explorer.
2020 marks the 200th anniversary of the first sighting of the Antarctic continent. With decades of combined experience in the region, and a genuine passion for exploring the ‘Last Continent’, EYOS has a proud record of achievements on the ice.
A one-of-a-kind company like EYOS requires extraordinary people behind the scenes - in the Faces of EYOS Question and Answer series we interview EYOS personnel.
Following the successful completion of the historic dive that made her the world’s most vertical person and first woman to reach the deepest point in the ocean, astronaut Dr. Kathy Sullivan has joined the EYOS Advisory Board.
Kelly Walsh, 52, today completed a historic dive to approximately 10,925m in the Challenger Deep. Walsh dove in the Western Pool, the same area that was visited by Kelly’s father, Captain Don Walsh, USN (Ret), PhD, who was the pilot of the bathyscaph ‘Trieste’ during the first dive to the Challenger Deep in 1960. Mr. Walsh’s 12-hour dive, coordinated by EYOS Expeditions, was undertaken aboard the deep-sea vehicle Triton 36000/2 ‘Limiting Factor” piloted by the owner of the vehicle Victor Vescovo, a Dallas, Texas based businessman and explorer.
In a world first, EYOS Expeditions today coordinated a call between the International Space Station and the DSSV Pressure Drop, the mothership of submersible DSV Limiting Factor. Limiting Factor ‘LF’ had just returned from a full ocean depth dive in the Challenger Deep, the deepest point in the ocean, with pilot Victor Vescovo of Caladan Oceanic and oceanographer/astronaut Dr. Kathy Sullivan onboard. The ISS is in Low Earth orbit at an altitude of 408 kms (254 miles) while the LF operates at a depth of nearly 7 miles.
The deepest diving octopus ever filmed was recently discovered by Dr. Alan Jamieson of Armatus Oceanic, was a species belonging to the Grimpoteuthis family, making this a likely new species of ‘Dumbo Octopus’. The observations were made at 5,760 and 6,957 metres deep (3.6 to 4.3 miles deep) in the Indian Ocean during the recent Five Deeps Expedition, the world’s first manned expedition to the deepest point in each of the five oceans.
EYOS Expeditions and Simwave have developed a bespoke ice navigation and expedition operations simulator course for superyacht officers that meets STCW and Polar Code requirements. This partnership combines Simwave’s expert instruction and sophisticated simulator technology in Rotterdam with the practical expertise of EYOS to deliver essential training with practical, real-world polar expeditions insight that is not found in any other course.
Following the historic Five Deeps Expedition and the current Ring of Fire Expedition, Caladan Oceanic’s Hadal Exploration System (HES) is being offered for sale exclusively through EYOS Expeditions. The HES is the only scientific platform specifically designed for work in the deep ocean ‘hadal zone’ and the submarine is the only vehicle certified with an official ‘Depth Unlimited’ rating. Able to dive repeatedly to 11,000m, the submersible is uniquely capable of reaching any depth, in any ocean and to do so for an indefinite number of dives. The package is listed at an asking price of $49.8 million which is based only on its actual design, construction, and shakedown costs.
After successfully diving to the deepest point in the Mediterranean Sea, the Calypso Deep, in mid-February, Victor Vescovo and the Caladan Oceanic crew sailed through the Suez Canal and into the Red Sea. In cooperation with the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, Caladan made multiple manned dives into the little-explored Red Sea and—for the first time—to its deepest point: the Suakin Trough. The team also dove the shallower, but scientifically important Kebrit Deep (Arabic for “sulfur”), 250 miles to the north.