A British explorer has become the first person in history to lead an expedition to Point Nemo – the remotest place on Earth. It has been named in honour of Jules Verne’s fictional submarine captain. Chris Brown marked the occasion by swimming at the eerily, quiet spot and holding a flag to showcase his achievement. Mr Brown posted some photos on his Instagram account confirming that he indeed reached the place, officially called the “oceanic pole of inaccessibility”.
“Point Nemo – the Oceanic Pole of Inaccessibility – bagged on Wednesday 20th March 2024. Having stood with a flag at the other Poles, I thought it would be a good idea to get in the water and become the first people to ever swim at Point Nemo,” the explorer said on Instagram.
“The bunting spells out N.E.M.O. in maritime flags,” he further said.
Congratulatory messages started pouring in.
“That’s absolutely mega,” said one user. “Congratulations, how cold was the water?” asked another.
“Challenge everything,” a third user said.
Point Nemo is so remote that the nearest land is the Pitcairn Islands 2,688 kilometres away, while the nearest humans are astronauts in the International Space Station, 408 kilometres above, in low earth orbit.
Many sailors have travelled near Point Nemo, no expedition has specifically travelled to the exact spot since it was first discovered in 1992 by Canadian-Russian engineer Hrvoje Lukatela.
Before launching the expedition, Mr Brown spoke to Daily Express and talked about the challenges.
“I don’t consider this to be as dangerous as my expeditions to Africa or Antarctica. The obvious danger is that you’re miles from anywhere on the sea, and you’re going to be a long way from any of the shipping lanes so if there was a problem with the boat, help would be a long time coming,” he said.
“I’ve been planning this specific expedition for months. But I’ve been looking at ways to get to Point Nemo for around six years. Lighter boats can obviously get there quicker but you’re going to be miles from anywhere so want something fairly robust,” he added.
Mr Brown and his team stated the mission from Puerto Montt in Chile, heading west for the exact map grid co-ordinates of Point Nemo.
