About Ken Burton
History Presenter
Captain Ken Burton recently served as Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue Society. Previously he served as the Executive Director of the Vancouver Maritime Museum.
Prior to this, Ken worked throughout Coastal North America as a Patrol Vessel Commander within the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). He retired with distinction as a Commissioner Officer and was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2014.
In the year 2000, Captain Burton commanded the St. Roch II Voyage of Rediscovery and he retraced the voyages of the original RCMP St Roch’s Arctic transit and subsequent circumnavigation of North America. During this 169-day 24,000 nautical mile voyage, Ken made over 50 ports of call into 7 different countries and set several world records. Today, he is still the only person to successfully circumnavigate North America in a non-ice strengthen vessel in a single season.
Ken has been working and travelling in the High Arctic for over 25 years as a peace officer, vessel commander, expedition leader, guide, and explorer. He spent significant time searching for the missing ships of the Sir John Franklin expedition using forward looking SONAR in some of most remote corners of the Arctic. In 2018 Ken’s book, Canada’s Arctic – A Guide to Adventure Through the Northwest Passage, was published by Pacific Marine Publishing, Vancouver, Canada.
Over the years he has transited the Northwest Passage in multiple vessels from small private craft to large cruise ships. Ken also serves as a Guide and Historian in the Antarctic, South Georgia, Falklands, Greenland, Alaska, British Columbia, Aleutian Islands and throughout the Caribbean.
