Shipbuilding, maintenance & repair Shipbuilding, maintenance & repair
Polar power A
t the dawn of expeditionary cruising in the 1960s, explorers, such as Lars-Eric Lindblad, founder of eponymous Lindblad Travel, used old Soviet icebreakers with rickety bunk beds to cut through icy waters in the Antarctic. These days, this small segment of the market still delivers those intrepid adventures, but it can also cater to an affluent clientele. Guests taking a trip with the likes of Ponant or Silversea, for instance, can enjoy luxury suites, five star cuisine and cinema rooms. It’s no secret that cruise passengers are increasingly showing their appetite for adventure, and few places on earth offer the combination of breath-taking beauty and a sense of challenge as the polar regions. The icy and potentially hazardous waters are drawing an unprecedented number of travellers and expeditionary ships with icebreaker hulls are rolling off the production line to meet that growing demand. This new breed of vessels are a far cry from old soviet bunk ships, equipped with state of the art technology and alternative fuel capabilities. The National Geographic Endurance, which was delivered in 2020 but did not go into service because of the pandemic, and its sister ship
World Cruise Industry Review /
www.worldcruiseindustryreview.com
The rise of the expeditionary sector – particularly excursions to polar regions – has ignited an arms race. Cruise lines are competing to incorporate the latest green technologies and luxury amenities into a new generation of polar vessels built to break through the ice in the hazardous waters of the Arctic and Antarctic. Jim Banks speaks to Thibaut Tincelin, CEO of marine architecture specialists Stirling Design, to discuss the challenges of building a new breed of cruise vessel.
National Geographic Resolution are set to traverse the waters of the world’s most remote polar regions for Lindblad Expeditions, parting the waters with their distinctive X-Bow styling to improve handling in heavy seas. The Seabourn Venture, the line’s first purpose-built luxury expedition vessel, is preparing to set sail in December 2021. This summer, Fincantieri subsidiary Vard announced the delivery of polar exploration vessel Le Commandant Charcot for French cruise company Ponant. The durable vessel has been crafted for rugged polar climes and is equipped with an innovative hybrid propulsion system, burning LNG and running on battery power to keep harmful emissions to a minimum. Soon, it will set forth for the world’s most remote regions, including the Geographic North Pole, Northeast Greenland’s National Park, the Bellingshausen Sea, the Larsen Ice Shelf and circumnavigation of the Svalbard archipelago. Though travelling to similarly harsh climates, each vessel represents a unique set of challenges and, therefore, a complex and imaginative design process. Designing and building vessels for the polar regions brings along a whole array of new
11
VARD Vung Tau
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61
