LE DUMONT D’URVILLE
She will be heading to Bergen tomorrow afternoon, but will be back on Sunday with a new load of guests to enjoy the wet weather we are experiencing this summer.
Seabourn’s ultra-luxury purpose-built expedition ship Seabourn Venture, paying tribute to the remote destinations visited by the brand’s highly successful expedition and Ventures by Seabourn excursion programs and the fascinating places yet to be explored in the future. Seabourn Venture was launched this year, with sister ship Seabourn Pursuit slated to launch in 2023. Both ships are designed and built for diverse environments to PC6 Polar Class standards and include a plethora of modern hardware and technology that will extend the ships global deployment and capabilities. The ships, which are being built by T. Mariotti, are of a brand new innovative design, created specifically for the ultra-luxury expedition traveler, and include many features that have made Seabourn ships so successful.
Outbound from Rotterdam heading for Tromso (Norway)
Photo: Johan Dijkstra (c)
A new and exciting offering will be two custom-built submarines carried onboard, providing an unforgettable view of the world beneath the ocean’s surface. The ships are designed to carry a complement of double sea kayaks as well as 24 Zodiacs that can accommodate all onboard guests at once, which will allow for a truly immersive experience.
Each ship features 132 all veranda, all ocean-front suites.
Source: Maasmond Newsclippings today.
Lots of Norwegian about these ships though, both externally and internally:
Italy-based shipbuilder Fincantieri will build a further four ships for Viking, a Swiss cruise line, in a deal valued at around €1.7bn:
Swiss?? Yes Viking’s Operational HQ is in Switzerland, although their corporate HQ is in the US:
The Chairman, Torstein Hagen lives in Switzerland, but is a Norwegia (Bergen) native.
The Ocean and Expedition ships are flying the Norwegian flag (NIS) with homeport Bergen and with mostly Scandinavian Officers
A new cruise line with a vision to sustainability has been born:
Their first ship has been ordered:
The people behind this project are no dreamers, but somebody with a solid background in both Cruise, Finance and Management.
The CEO, Rolf Sandvik is a Master Mariner with experience as Master in both NCL and Crystal Cruises. He is also the man behind the first all electric excursion boat, Vision of the Fjords:
Viking Polaris in Amsterdam, together with Viking Mars and Viking Mani.
PS> This is also the 25th anniversary of Viking Cruises.
For the occasion ships from all three branches of Viking Cruises, Viking Ocean, Viking Expedition and Viking River are seen together for once.
Vantage Cruise Line’s OCEAN EXPLORER was built in 2021, has a length of 104 meters, a beam of 18 meters and can accommodate 162 guests . The OCEAN EXPLORER 9-night 2022 Great Lakes Cruise departed Chicago with port stops along the way and is shown in the St Clair River about half the way to its destination of Toronto, Ontario.
Photo: Bert Varady Michigan USA (c)
