Quark Polar Firsts;August 1991;First-ever tourism transit of the Northeast Passage, the historic route across the Russian Arctic;November 1992;Quark offers first non-scientific visits to emperor penguin rookeries;November 1997;First circumnavigation of Antarctica for commercial passengers completed;July 1999;First circumnavigation of the Arctic Ocean;2004;Quark first to confirm most northerly emperor penguin rookery near Snow Hill in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica;June 2008;Quark offers maiden voyage on nuclear icebreaker 50 Years of Victory to the North Pole;April 2011;Three Arctic Islands trip voted one of National Geographic Traveler’s 50 Tours of a Lifetime;November 2012;Quark launches first-ever CarbonNeutral® voyages to Antarctica aboard Ocean Diamond;February 2013;Quark hosts Jonathan Shackleton (Ernest Shackleton’s cousin) and Falcon Scott (Robert Falcon Scott’s grandson) as they walk (and camp) on 7th Continent together;November 2013;Quark teams with Hot Docs to offer the first-ever floating polar film festival onboard the Sea Spirit;April 2014;Quark introduces Arctic Watch Wilderness Lodge, its first land-based arctic adventure;July 2014;Antarctic Express: Fly South, Cruise the Peninsula, South Georgia and the Falklands voyage launched to rave reviews;December 2014;Quark introduces In Franklin’s Footsteps – day excursion to secluded Beechey Island;December 2014;Quark makes polar history landing at remote Saunders Island, South Sandwich Islands;January 2015 – Quark Wins the World Travel Awards™: World’s Leading Specialty Cruise Line;February 2015;Quark introduces North Pole Express: Barneo Fly-In Ice Camp – an epic expedition on floating research station with North Pole inclusion
In 1991, Lars Wikander and Mike McDowell were two adventurers hankering to visit the North Pole. At the time, it was one of the few places they had never been. Once there, they were awestruck by the beauty and majesty of one of the last unspoiled places on earth.;Since that pioneering North Pole voyage in 1991, we’ve taken thousands of curious travelers to corners of the world that earlier generations could only dream of visiting. Along the way, we’ve achieved an unprecedented series of firsts in polar exploration and have led the way in polar expeditions, making the Arctic and Antarctica accessible to travelers from 50 countries around the world.;Today, we still carry the spirit of the great explorers while sharing our passion for regions whose environmental purity transcends political boundaries and whose beauty defies description. Polar travel is all we do, and we’re passionate about ensuring every one of our passengers has the experience of a lifetime.