Baltic Sea sailing expedition

Planet

CARBON REDUCTION
Sailing has a surprisingly high environmental impact - this is because many of the materials used are single use, non-recyclable and sailing also consumes significant amounts of fossil fuel.

To tackle this, every voyage is measured against a carbon footprint methodology that we developed, with the calculation tool built by Marineshift 360 to our specification. We track fuel use, food and food waste, marina services and shore-based accommodation on every trip we run, not just the headline ocean crossings. This gives us an accurate methodology to track the Co2 footprint of each trip and we then put in place plans to reduce that.

We were the first operator to track our Co2 footprint in this way and we made the tool freely available to other operators, encouraging them to do the same.

One way that we reduce of Co2 footprint is by provisioning in each port along the route Kiel, Copenhagen, and Gdansk using locally sourced produce wherever possible which keeps food miles down and spend in each local economy. We are not fully vegetarian on board, but we do reduce the amount of meat we use and look for locally sourced meat where possible.

People

LOCAL ECONOMY
The Baltic Explorer calls at working harbours and historic port cities rather than purely touristic marinas, and we build in proper time ashore at each stop rather than treating them as overnight changeovers only. Crew are encouraged to eat, shop and explore locally wherever we tie up. If you join multiple legs of the trip, you will stay on board Gatsby and have several days to explore the local sights.

EMPLOYMENT, INCLUSIVITY AND DIVERSITY
We reserve 20% of places across our entire trip programme for the Open Oceans fund, fully funded berths for people who wouldn't otherwise have the means or the confidence to join an ocean voyage. This commitment to inclusive adventure sailing was recognised by the LUXlife Marine Tourism Awards, which named us Global Sailing Sustainability & Inclusivity Champion in 2024 and we have been shortlisted by British Marine in their national "Access to Boating awards" 2026 for their "Sustainability and Inclusivity Champion - UK".