Christmas greetings from CEO Haakon Vatle

Dear friends of Statsraad Lehmkuhl and The One Ocean Expedition.

Statsraad Lehmkuhl has arrived in New York City. The expedition has reached a major milestone.

It is truly demanding to conduct a circumnavigation during an ongoing pandemic. When we left Arendal 20 August, we did not know whether we would be able to make call at ports on the other side of the Atlantic, due to the ongoing Covid restrictions. Along the way, the world open up. And with very good help from the Norwegian embassies and consulates in the countries we have visited, the expedition has been able to follow the set up sailing schedule.

The ship has strict Covid routines with regular testing of everyone on board, both before they come on board, but also when the ship is out sailing. Nevertheless, as is well known, we had a Covid case on board just before arriving in New York City.

Over a period of one week, the person had completed as many as three negative antigen tests, but began to develop symptoms after this. This again shows that it is an insidious virus with a long incubation period. The patient was quickly isolated and all other crews were tested - all with negative results. In close dialogue with local authorities in NYC, the ship was allowed to arrive "The Big Apple" with only a day's delay. Theres are no further restrictions on the ship and its crew, and the expedition will continue as planned.

The patient is also doing very well and will soon be totally recovered, forwhich we are very happy. All things considered, it was only a matter of time before there would be Covid case on board, no matter how strict routines we follow. But, when it occurred, we are pleased to see that our routines and preparedness made it possible to handle the situation in a good way. We have gained a lot of experience and will be even better equipped to face similar challenges in the future. (But of course, we hope that it does not happen).

The ship and its crew will celebrate Christmas and New Year Evening in New York City this year. For over fourteen days, the world's most beautiful sailing ship shine over the metropolis. The crew will have a few well-deserved calm days before the expedition continues on January 4, with the course set for Newport. Here, the Norwegian Naval Academy will take over the ship and sail it for three months down to South America and around Cape Horn. This will also be a new milestone in the ship's history.

Statsraad Lehmkuhl and the expedition have an incredible number of good friends and followers. We are infinitely grateful to have you with us, both in good times and bad. It is not something we take for granted. The One Ocean Expedition truly shows the strength of cooperation and that together we can create something much bigger than we could have imagined.

Thank you to each and every one of you who in different ways contribute to our success together!

Thanks to great commitment and cooperation, we have managed to get the ship to New York City. This gives us great motivation to continue the voyage in an exciting and eventful 2022. The challenges are guaranteed to come, but together we will be able to handle them. One Ocean Expedition will stay on its course to create awareness and share knowledge about the ocean's important role for a sustainable future in a global perspective.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, both on land and on board.

All the best,

Haakon Vatle, CEO The Statsraad Lehmkuhl Foundation