International transport and logistics organisation Gebrüder Weiss announces its role as the official logistics partner of water sports enthusiast and environmental activist Michael Walther, as he attempts to set a world record by crossing the Atlantic Ocean on a stand-up paddleboard.
At the end of September, Walther, based in Keil, Germany, will embark on this extraordinary mission.
If he succeeds, he will become the first European to cross the Atlantic Ocean solo and unsupported on a stand-up paddleboard.
While he’ll be alone on the water, he won’t be alone on land.
Logistics provider Gebrüder Weiss will support the journey overland and across the sea.
The logistics specialists at Gebrüder Weiss’s Hamburg, Germany, branch are managing the complex transportation needs for this custom-built SUP board.
The board will first travel overland from Kiel to Lagos in Portugal, where Walther’s Atlantic crossing will begin.
From there, he will paddle past the Canary and Cape Verde Islands before reaching his final destination in French Guiana.
Once he lands in the port of Cayenne, Gebrüder Weiss will ship the board back to Kiel via sea freight using a certified climate-neutral process, made possible through verified insetting within the logistics chain.
“Michael Walther is drawing attention to marine conservation through an unconventional form of mobility and we are proud to support this mission as his logistics partner,” says Robert Stahlschmidt, country manager of air and sea for Germany at Gebrüder Weiss.
Walther expects the crossing to take approximately three months. He deliberately chose not to use a support vessel or receive any external assistance.
During the journey, he’ll deploy a hydrophone to record the sounds of marine life.
These audio recordings will be shared with the Alfred Wegener Institute, one of Germany’s leading marine research institutions, to support ongoing climate impact studies on ocean ecosystems.
This isn’t Walther’s first bold move for climate action. Since 2008, he has undertaken high-profile expeditions to raise awareness of climate and environmental issues.
Past projects include paddling across Germany by river and travelling through Iceland to document glacial melt.
