The head of Deep Ocean Expeditions and of Space Adventures, Australian citizen Michael Ian McDowell, and Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation in Lausanne, Swedish national Frederik Dag Arfst Paulsen, were recognised for their outstanding contributions to the success of the high latitude, deep water Arctic expedition and for encouraging international cooperation in the study and development of the Arctic Ocean.
Michael McDowell and Frederik Paulsen took part in the Russian scientific exploration called Arctic 2007. In August of last year, for the first time in history people reached the bottom of the ocean at the North Pole in the Russian Mir deep-water submersibles.