Petr Golikov, Vice President, Logistics

Petr graduated in 1970 from the Far Eastern Marine Academy. Upon graduation, he was employed by the Far Eastern Shipping Company (FESCO), Vladivostok, Russia. By 1979, Petr was Chief Mate aboard the Arctic icebreaker Ermak. While aboard, he gained extensive experience in seamanship, especially in the methods of conveying vessels of differing displacements through ice, including towing and pushing operations. He has worked in all ice conditions: pack, fast, and multi-year. These operations were often conducted during extended periods of Arctic darkness, and in limited visibility usig navigational instruments. His experienced includes the exceptionally difficult Arctic ice navigation season of 1983.

From 1984 to 1985, Petr was Chief Mate aboard the icebreaker Krasin, the sister ship of Ermak. During this period he participated in icebreaking operations in the Baltic Sea and participated in the towing of a floating dock from the Black Sea to the Pacific Ocean via the Suez Canal.

In 1986, Petr was promoted to Captain of Icebreakers for FESCO, serving until 1991 aboard Erofey Khabarov, Vladivostok, and Admiral Makarov in the position of Master.

While Master of the FESCO icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov (July 1992 to 2004), the ship became an expeditionary vessel carrying adventurers under charter to Quark Expeditions. Petr conveyed travelers to the Canadian Arctic, several Antarctic regions, and the North and South Magnetic Poles.

In August 1993, while chartered to Quark Expeditions Kapitan Khlebnikov under Petr's command attempted to complete the first ever circumnavigation of Greenland. The attempt was thwarted by heavy multi-year ice up to 6 meters (6.5 yards) thick. In Antarctica, he has sailed virtually the entire coastline of the continent, visited most of the subantarctic islands in the Southern Ocean. In 1996, he was Master of Kapitan Khlebnikov during the first circumnavigation ever by a passenger vessel.

In 1999, he was Master during the first passenger voyage and landing on Antarctica's Phantom Coast. In 2002-2003, Petr commanded the icebreaker's second passenger circumnavigation of the Antarctic continent. The only Master of a passenger vessel to have ever done so.

Since December 2004, Petr has been employed by Quark Expeditions in charge of Ships Logistics, responsible for relations with the owners of vessels chartered by Quark, arranging ships' repairs, crewing matters, and the creation technical itineraries for new voyages as well the revision of existing ones.

In recognition of his distinguished career, Petr was awarded the title of Honorary Pole Explorer in December 1983, by the Ministry of Merchant Marine of the USSR, and the title of Honorary Merchant Mariner in 1997, by the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation.