Portrait of the week: Zhai Mo

Renowned explorer and environmentalist Zhai Mo set sail on 30 June to journey around the Arctic Ocean and raise awareness on the links between climate change and land degradation. The journey that has been made possible for the first time in human history due to global warming and the melting of Arctic ice caps is a momentous opportunity to call the world's attention to the impact that human activities have on the environment – particularly the Arctic, which is the second largest polar desert in the world after Antarctica. Zhai Mo was recently named “UNCCD Supporter – Arctic Adventurer for 2021 Desertification and Drought Day.”

Captain Zhai Mo will travel from Shanghai across the East Sea, the Western Pacific, the Bering Strait, the Chukchi Sea, the East Siberian Sea and the Laptev Sea, the Kerala Sea, the Barents Sea, the Norwegian Sea, the Greenland Sea, the Davis Strait, the Gulf of Baffin and the Bofert Sea to complete a journey of more than 18,000 nautical miles in about 128 days. 

Zhai Mo is the Ambassador of China's Maritime Science and Technology, National Marine Public Interest Image Ambassador, recipient of the Zheng He Marine Special Contribution Award, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Chinese Society of Navigation. In2015, he completed the "Re-Walking the Maritime Silk Road."

We will follow his Arctic expedition with frequent updates. Stay tuned!