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At the helm of our fleet stands a team of Captains with decades of experience behind them. Understanding that expedition travel requires the flexibility to change course at a moment’s notice, our Captains bring expertise, excellent safety records, and an intimate knowledge of the regions we explore to the bridge of each Lindblad Expeditions vessel. Meet a few of them below.
 Captain Leif Skog, NG Explorer
Vice President of Marine Operations
Captain Skog has been Master aboard some of the most celebrated expedition ships: Lindblad Explorer, Polaris, Frontier Spirit. In 1997 he joined Lindblad as Master of National Geographic Endeavour. His experience in polar waters runs deep, navigating vessels in Antarctica nearly every season since 1979 on more than 100 Antarctic voyages. As Chairman of the IAATO Marine Committee (International Assn. of Antarctic Tour Operators), he was a primary architect of the IAATO Emergency Contingency Plan for all vessels operating in Antarctica.
Captain Oliver Kruess, NG Explorer 
Captain Kruess has been working at sea for two decades. His early experience was sailing aboard large cargo ships. Since 1991 he has been aboard expedition vessels, including the World Discoverer first as 2nd Officer then as Chief Officer. He rose to command as a ship’s Master in 1995. For nearly 20 years Captain Kruess has been navigating the polar waters of the Arctic and Antarctic, logging well over 100 polar expeditions. Captain Kruess has also served as a representative at IAATO (International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators).
 Captain George Coughlin, NG Sea Bird
For over two decades, Captain Coughlin has been in command of vessels operating itineraries, from the Great Lakes, Canadian Maritimes, East Coast of the United States, Caribbean Sea, Orinoco River (Venezuela), Panama Canal, Costa Rica, Baja California, Columbia/Snake Rivers, British Columbia, and Southeast Alaska. As a native New Englander, he began his career as a deckhand on small ships in Boston harbor, at the early age of 14. Captain Coughlin also served 3 years shipboard in the U.S. Navy. Now serving as full time Captain aboard the National Geographic Sea Bird, Captain Coughlin first took the helm in April of 1993.
Captain Fausto Hinojosa, NG Endeavour 
Captain Hinojosa was born in Riobamba, Ecuador, a small city in the Andes. At the age of 18 he began his maritime studies at the Merchant Marine School in Ecuador and has been going to sea ever since, first on cargo vessels and bulk carriers around the world, and then on passenger vessels in the Galapagos Islands, starting in 1979. He came to work for Lindblad Expeditions in 1999 on the Polaris and has been with us ever since, transferring to the National Geographic Endeavour when it came to Galapagos in 2009.
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