B&G®, specialised manufacturer of sailing electronics, is back on board the Barba vessel on a six-month, 3,000-mile Arctic research expedition to the Norwegian islands of Svalbard and Jan Mayen. The official name of the expedition is Arctic Sense 2021 and this is the fourth year that B&G has provided technical and electronic support to ocean expeditions led by marine biologist and former Navy diver Andreas B. Heide.
“B&G has been with Andreas and Barba’s crew for several years now and we fully support the extraordinary and in-depth research he is doing with his team,” said Simon Conder, Global Head of Brand, B&G. “With the addition of a new B&G Zeus 3S and Halo 20+ radar to this expedition, in addition to the already complete suite of B&G electronic instruments on board, Heide will be fully equipped to tackle some of the most extreme conditions.”
The research
Heide and his team have been leading voices in marine conservation and Arctic research since the inception of the Barba program over a decade ago, with a focus on studying Arctic whale populations and measuring impacts on the global warming and pollution of the sea due to plastic. In past expeditions they have sailed to Greenland, Jan Mayen, Svalbard and Iceland.
“This latest Arctic Sense expedition has three objectives: the search, the identification of the whales and the training of the young. It will be divided into four main stages, including the Norwegian coast, Svalbard in the summer, Jan Mayen and then land at the end of the trip to London, “Heide said.
“Having B&G aboard not only makes this expedition possible, it also gives us the confidence to travel more miles and deepen our research, knowing that we will be guided by the most reliable and precise equipment ever.”
Protect the environment
Barba is a refitted 37-foot Jeanneau Sun Fast that Heide has been using since 2012. Thanks to its linear and non-intrusive hull suitable for studying whales, Barba offers close encounters with wildlife with minimal disturbance to nature.
“We hope everyone will follow Andreas and his team along the route of this expedition,” Conder added. “Andreas’ stories about our fragile ecosystems and majestic mammals like Arctic whales help us all better understand what happens in the environments we all love to navigate and recognize what we can do to protect them for future generations.”
Heide and his sailboat Barba left Stavanger on June 1st and are spending June sailing north. They will spend July and August in Svalbard, circumnavigating the archipelago before heading to the small island of Jan Mayen with no permanent inhabitants. The expedition will end in London at the end of autumn.
