The voyage began in Tromsø, Norway, and ended at Nome, Alaska, Sept. 10, for a total of 5,542 nautical miles.
The ship sailed Aug. 16 for its first port, Murmansk, where the Northeast Passage transit officially started. After cruising through the Barents Sea/Arctic Ocean, Hanseatic anchored at Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land, before continuing through the Kara Sea to Severnaya Zemlya. Other stops at anchor took place off Siberia, Wrangel Island and Chukchi Island.
The Northeast Passage officially ended at 6 a.m. Sept. 7, when the ship rounded Cape Dezhnev.
The cruise was fully booked. The crew organized 20 landings and tours using the 14 on-board Zodiacs. During spectacular wildlife observations, passengers saw walruses and polar bears. On one island, 16 polar bears were spotted at the same time, including some mothers with cubs. In total, 86 polar bears were counted from the bridge during the expedition.
'I have never before seen so many polar bears on an Arctic cruise,' Capt. Thilo Natke said. 'Furthermore, we have seen the fantastic Northern Lights and enjoyed three sunny days with blue skies at Wrangel Island.'
In 2014, Hanseatic became the first non-Russian cruise ship to navigate this legendary sea route.
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