DUBAI: Three adventurers from the UAE will embark on an unprecedented 1,500km rowing expedition across the Arctic Ocean in July.
Toby Gregory, Orlagh Dempsey and Andrew Savill will tackle the harsh conditions in an eight-meter boat with no engine, motor or sail in a bid to highlight environmental advocacy and gender equality. They will not be accompanied by any support craft.
Once the challenge is complete, Dempsey will be the first woman in history to row the Arctic Ocean, a vital yet fragile ecosystem offering unique opportunities to study climate dynamics, biodiversity and resilience.
“Our mission goes beyond endurance,” said Gregory, project lead for the Arctic Challenge and founder of The Plastic Pledge.
“We aim to ignite the imagination of a generation about a fragile but important part of our planet, which is at the forefront of climate change and the fight against plastic pollution, emphasizing the urgent need to protect our environment.
“Orlagh will become the first female in history to row the open Arctic Ocean, showing that greatness knows no gender. We need to make equality the norm, not the exception.”
Dempsey, an elite endurance athlete, said: “The Arctic Challenge is more than an expedition; it’s a beacon for gender equality. As the first woman to row open Arctic waters, I hope to inspire others to break barriers and pursue their dreams.”
The team’s specially designed vessel, the “Ocean Guardian,” will be fully reliant on the crew’s physical power to make the crossing. The boat is equipped with solar panels for navigation and a desalination machine that will supply essential drinking water.
The team will row non-stop from Tromsø, Norway, to Longyearbyen, Svalbard, following a rigorous schedule of two hours on, two hours off. The voyage, expected to take 20-25 days, will traverse an area known as the “Devil’s Dance Floor” due to its unpredictability and difficulty level, and the remote Arctic ice shelf.
The Arctic Challenge is backed by a global community and aims to inspire action for environmental conservation. Over the past two years the team, through The Plastic Pledge, has engaged with over 200,000 students across over sixty schools and universities in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. They are aiming to inspire a million students to connect with the project.
