It has been a great pleasure being invited as studio guest to the BR-Abendschau and to speak with Christoph Deumling about the Navigators Heritage Challenge (www.NavigatorsHeritage.com), the Global Offshore Sailing Teams impact on international understanding and the creation of international awareness for the UN Global Goals and environmental issues
“It has been an honour to give a speech for the “Marine-Offiziers-Messe München”, highlighting the importance of Antarctica for us and our planet and to report about the Global Offshore Sailing Team’s Expedition Antarctic Blanc.”
Jochen Werne
Antarctic Blanc Expedition Leader
Having experienced the sea by themselves the retired German Naval Officers enriched the discussion greatly with their own fascinating experiences and personal stories about life on sea and the challenges with the elements.
I’m grateful to Commander ret. Bernd Lehmann and Commander ret. Bernd Chittka for the invitation and the members and guests of the “Marine-Offiziers-Messe München for an outstanding evening and their engagement for our society.
The Global Offshore Sailing Team sailed to the most Southerly partially ice-free place of this planet – the ANTARCTIC continent. The international team remembered all sailors who bravely explored this fragile and dangerous environment.
With this Expedition a platform of intercultural and interdisciplinary exchange for ANTARCTIC enthusiasts such as Historians, Environmental Scientists, Sailors, NGO’s, Navies, Associations or just out of personal interest has been created.
Monaco Info reported about the Expedition Antarctic Blanc’s Press Conference at the Yacht Club de Monaco interviewing Expedition Leader Jochen Werne, Environmental Initiatives Coordinator Dr. Benon Janos and Chief Observer David Gamba. The expedition will took place between the 12th and the 27th of February 2018 and was engaged in the commemoration of Antarctic explorers and the support of the United Nations #CleanSeas initiative.
Es war ein großes Vergnügen gemeinsam mit dem GOST Chief Historian Bernd Lehmann in einem 45-minütigen Interview geführt von Christopher Griebel im Deutschen Museum über viele Facetten der Seefahrt und der zu dem Zeitpunkt bevorstehenden Antarktisexpedition Antarctic Blanc zu diskutieren.
Es ist etwas besonderes auf diese Pre-Expedition Dokumentation genau heute am 1. April 2019 zurückzuschauen, an dem Tag, wo eine Delegation bestehend aus Jochen Werne (Expedition Leader), Dr. Olivier Blanchard (Chief Liaison Officer to France) und Dr. Wolfgang Händel (Chief Logistics Officer), französischen Regierungsvertretern in Paris die Expeditionsflagge übergeben werden.
LINK ZUM INTERVIEW
https://www.muenchen.tv/mediathek/video/im-deutschen-museum-2/
On 1 April 2019 at 4 p.m., Mme Sophie-Dorothée Duron, Conseillère Biodiversité Eau Mer will welcome a delegation from the international expedition Antarctic Blanc, which was successfully carried out with French assistance. The delegation will present the expedition flag, which represented France in Antarctica, as a symbol of remembrance.
French President Emmanuel MACRON personally underlined in his letter of support to the Expedition how important the preservation of our planet’s ecosystem is and how valuable therefore the creation of awareness in the society by the initiative.
STORMS AND ICEBERGS
Expedition Antarctic Blanc pursued historical, social and environmental goals. The 12 expedition offshore participants of the initiative, supported by the United Nations and 19 states, crossed on a 20m sailing yacht twice in 12 days, under the toughest conditions, one of the most dangerous sea routes in the world – the Drake Passage, covering 1129 nautical miles (over 2,000km). The journey was marked by the passage of several storm systems in the Antarctic and off Cape Horn, which delayed the return by several days. Winds with up to 50kn, waves up to 8m high and temperatures around freezing point demanded top physical performances from the expedition participants.
INTERNATIONAL COMMEMORATION CEREMONY. Sailing on Historic Routes. The expedition commemorated the researchers, explorers and sailors whose ships had to master the challenging peculiarities of reaching an unknown part of the world. The international team held a commemoration ceremony on the historically significant Antarctic volcanic Deception Island. In the name of all supporting states and the United Nations, a wreath of local ice was symbolically formed and laid down in order to pay international tribute to the achievements in the exploration of this unique continent. The supporting nations are among the signatories of the politically unique Antarctic Treaty of 23 June 1961. Heads of state and government organizations of the 19 nations have expressed their support for this unique, privately initiated expeditions in letters to the leader of the expedition, Jochen Werne, in particular for the execution of the ceremonial act of commemoration.
FRANCE AND THE ANTARCTIC TREATY. France joined the Antarctic Treaty on 23 June 1961 and, with its signature, also acknowledged that “in the interest of all mankind, Antarctica is used exclusively for peaceful purposes and should not become the scene or object of international discord”. France also underlined its commitment to the preservation of this ecosystem as a “nature reserve dedicated to peace and science”.
UNEP CLEAN SEAS INITIATIVE. The main focus of the expedition was to sensitize the international public for the preservation of the unique Antarctic ecosystem and to support the UN initiative Clean Seas to combat plastic waste in the oceans. With Expedition Antarctic Blanc, this important United Nations Environmental Program project is now finding acceptance on all continents of our planet.
CONSEQUENCES OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE ECOSYSTEM. In addition, the expedition supported the University of Connecticut and Northeastern University’s research project on plankton metabarcoding by collecting plankton samples, which could provide a fundamental contribution to obtaining rapid responses to the ecosystem’s response to climate change.
WHALES IN THE ANTARCTIC. With the observation of 18 different whales and the detailed documentation of their position and behaviour, the expedition also contributed to the establishment of the global whale observation platform ‘Happy Wales’. The platform is intended to provide science with in-depth insights into the behaviour and development of the largest mammals on our planet.
CHILD AND YOUTH DEVELOPMENT. To promote international children and youth projects, several live broadcasts were held from sea and Antarctica with children of the sailing school of the Yacht Club de Monaco. On their return, the team visited the Cedena Yacht School Puerto Williams, Chile, which is open to children from all walks of life in the southernmost region of our planet, and through sport encourages them to develop their own goals and character traits that are conducive to their personal development. In addition to a donation from the expedition team, the foundation stone was laid for an international exchange and the children were introduced to Antarctica and its significance.
INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION. The visit to Paris marks the fifth important reception for Expedition Antarctic Blanc after the reception by Prince Albert II in Monaco, the ambassador of the poles of the Netherlands, Carola van Reijnsoever, in The Hague, the President of Austria Alexander Van der Bellen in Vienna and the Private Secretary to Her Majesty The Queen of Denmark Henning Fode.
PRESS INVITATION
Expedition participants – Offshore Team
Jochen Werne Expedition Leader
Marco Schröter Chief Safety Officer
Oliver Picht Navigator & Chief Documentation Officer
Linden Blue Chief Communication Officer
Bernd Görgner Chief Medical Officer
Benon Janos Environmental Initiatives Coordinator
Wolfgang Händel Chief Logistics Officer
Hans Axtner Master of Ceremony
Michael Melnick Chief Sciences Coordinator
David Gamba Chief Observer
Wolf Kloss Skipper and Expedition Yacht Owner
Karl Papenfuss Mate
Comment on the initiator of the expedition – The Global Offshore Sailing Team (GOST)
Expedition “Antarctic Blanc” is the continuation of the polar initiative launched in 2016 with comparable objectives under the name “Arctic Ocean Raptor”, but in the Spitsbergen sea area and up to the Arctic pack ice limit. An additional and important aspect was the commemoration of the seafarers of all nations, who fulfilled their seafaring duties during the maritime operations in the Arctic under the mostly merciless weather conditions and partly also lost their lives. In the name of the Norwegian King Harald V and the Canadian government, a wreath was handed over to the lake; further international support for this expedition came from Belgium, Germany, Great Britain and Italy. Founded in 1999 by Jochen Werne and Guido Zoeller, the Global Offshore Sailing Team is once again committed to maritime history and environmental issues with this particularly challenging expedition and its People’s Diplomacy campaign.
Press contact:
Jochen Werne
Expedition Leader
Mail: ExpeditionLeader@AntarcticBlanc.com
The two largest Austrian newspapers “Kronenzeitung” and “Heute” reported on the official visit of a delegation of Expedition Antarctic Blanc to the Hofburg. Together, the publications have a circulation of more than 1.5 million copies per day.
We are grateful to President Alexander Van der Bellen for the invitation, the President’s Press Corps and the press for the publications that support the goal of raising awareness of such important issues as the UNEP Clean Seas Initiative, the fight against microplastics in our oceans, the importance of Antarctica for our ecosystem and the importance of international cooperation and understanding.
Austria has a long standing tradition in Polar Research leading to the Austrian Polar Research Institute, who’s coordinating today the country’s activities in the Arctic and Antarctica
The delegation consisted of
Jochen Werne (Expedition Leader); Andris Adam (Chief Liason Officer to Austria and Hungary); Götz Credé (Chief Liaison Officer to Belgium, Denmark and The Netherlands); Dr. Wolfgang Händel (Chief Logistics Officer); Prof. Dr. Andreas Richter (Founding Director of the Austrian Polar Research Institutes); Christin Latk (Expedition Support Team – Akademie der Führungskräfte)