We’ve always led the way in commercial polar expedition. Our founders Lars Wikander and Mike McDowell took the first group of commercial travelers to the North Pole in 1991. Discover a few more of our historic highlights in the timeline below.
Discover a few of our historic highlights in the timeline below
1991: Quark Expeditions takes the first commercial passengers to the North Pole—something no other expedition company had achieved.
1992: Quark Expeditions departs Cape Town for the first passenger voyage to the Far Side of Antarctica, the most remote coastal region of the continent.
1993: For the first time, Quark Expeditions guests retrace the voyage of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance.
1996: Quark Expeditions begins a circumnavigation of Antarctica for commercial passengers, the first-ever voyage of its kind.
2003: Quark Expeditions passengers become the first humans to witness a Total Solar Eclipse in Antarctica.
2004: Quark Expeditions becomes the first operator to confirm the existence and location of the Snow Hill Emperor colony.
2006: Quark Expeditions breaks Roald Amundsen’s record set nearly 100 years ago, attaining the most southernly latitude of any vessel.
2012: Quark Expeditions becomes the first tour operator to successfully offer passenger hot-air ballooning at the North Pole.
2013: Quark Expeditions is named World’s Leading Polar Expedition Operator at the World Travel Awards in Lisbon.
2018: Quark Expeditions is again named World’s Leading Polar Expedition Operator at the World Travel Awards.
2019: Quark Expeditions unveils Polar Promise, the most holistic sustainability policy in the polar expedition industry.
2020: Quark Expeditions is named World’s Leading Specialist Cruise Line at the World’s Leading World Travel Awards.
2021: Quark Expeditions officially takes ownership of Ultramarine after successful sea trials in Croatia, marking one of our greatest polar milestones.
