Expedition Voyage Consultants announced today the appointment of Peter Butz as its Chief Operations Officer. In his new position, Butz will assume responsibility for the company’s day-to-day operations and resources as well as contribute to its consulting projects.

“We feel very fortunate to have Peter join our team. As the industry continues to expand at an unprecedented pace, building on our talented team with decades of bona-fide expedition experience reinforces EVC’s leading position. Peter’s background will be key to our offering the finest expedition advice in the industry, whether in ship design, operations, itinerary development or market analysis,” says EVC CEO Ben Lyons.

Butz began his career in the late 1970s when he first began working on the pioneering expedition ship Lindblad Explorer. As Expedition Leader, Butz managed voyages to the far flung corners of the world, including Antarctica, the Great Barrier Reef, the Arctic and the Amazon. In those early days of the industry, few ships were reaching these destinations, and Butz describes those years as “true exploration.”

Butz went on to join Special Expeditions (now Lindblad Expeditions) as Expedition Leader. Over eight years, he sailed to Alaska, Baja California, Papua New Guinea, the Arctic and Amazon. In 1989, he transitioned ashore to manage vessel operations. For the next 25 years, first as Vice President of Fleet Operations and then as Chief Operating Officer, he oversaw the company’s fleet grow to six globally deployed vessels and its employees and contractors grow to almost 500. Recently, Butz had spent three years consulting independently and overseeing Alaskan Dream Cruises’ expansion.

“Having started my career in the field, I’m thrilled to be joining a team that places such a emphasis on practical experience. The team at EVC represents decades of managing and running expedition logistics and operations on all sizes and types of ship; I look forward to providing our clients with some of the hard-won experience we’ve all learned first hand.”