Lars-Eric Lindblad

Lars-Eric Lindblad (January 23, 1927 – July 8, 1994) was a Swedish-American entrepreneur and explorer, who pioneered tourism to many remote and exotic parts of the world.

He led the first tourist expedition to Antarctica in 1966[1] in a chartered Argentine navy ship, and for many years operated his own vessel, the MS Lindblad Explorer, in the region.

In 1984, he led the first voyage by a tourist ship through the Northwest Passage from Newfoundland over the American continent and via Bering Strait to Yokohama, Japan.

[4] The voyage took 40 days and a distance of 8,920 nautical miles (16,520 km) and the adventure was covered by most news media in North America and Europe.

In 1972, one of his company's ships, the MV Explorer, ran aground in Antarctica – its passengers, including Lars-Eric Lindblad, were rescued by the Chilean Navy.

[4] Lindblad was awarded the Order of the Golden Ark by the Netherlands for services to wildlife conservation, and was in 1987 made a Knight of the Polar Star by the King of Sweden.