Aurora Expeditions, the luxury cruise company that offers services to Antarctica and Arctic, will build a second expedition ship, the Sylvia Earle, scheduled to debut in October 2021.
The 126-passenger vessel named ‘Sylvia Earle’, to honor the renowned marine biologist, oceanographer and explorer.
The order comes shortly after the Australia-based company introduced its first new expedition ship in 2019, the Greg Mortimer, named for the Australian mountaineer and Aurora’s founder.
The new ship is one of the vessels in owner, SunStone Ships’, INFINITY class. Constructed at CMHI, they have been designed by Ulstein Design & Solutions AS.
The ‘Sylvia Earle’ has been designed by Ulstein Design & Solutions AS and is one of the potentially ten vessels in SunStone Ships’ INFINITY class. The first delivery in this series, the ‘Greg Mortimer’, is also operated by Aurora Expeditions.
The ULSTEIN X-BOW hull shape has been proven in offshore vessels for more than a decade and on more than one hundred ships, however, the ‘Greg Mortimer’ was first in the cruise industry. The vessel’s naming ceremony and maiden journey in October 2019 therefore roused much attention world-wide.
Ulstein has delivered the ship design, equipment packages and site follow-up. The series of vessels are being constructed at the CMHI yard, China, and the ‘Sylvia Earle’ is scheduled for delivery in 2021.