China Merchants yard delivers Greg Mortimer expedition ship to SunStoneChina Merchants yard delivers Greg Mortimer expedition ship to SunStone

A first for China, SunStone and Aurora Expeditions

This is China’s first self-constructed international expedition cruise ship.

The owner, Miami-based SunStone Ships led by Niels-Erik Lund, has chartered Greg Mortimer to Aurora Expeditions. It will be the Australian company's first purpose-built ship.

X-Bow design

The Infinity-class vessel sports Ulstein's patented X-Bow design, for better seakeeping and energy efficiency.

Greg Mortimer is 104 meters long and 18 meters wide, with a draft of 5.1 meters. It can carry 130 to 200 passengers and 85 to 115 crew. The ship is built to Polar Class 6 standard.

Greg Mortimer is scheduled to begin cruising at the end of October from Ushuaia to Antarctica.

More Infinity-class ships to come

In the first half of this year, SunStone also inked orders for the sixth and seventh Infinity-class newbuilds at CMIH.

Aurora Expeditions will be chartering a second vessel, and other shps to come include Ocean Victory, due in October 2020, Ocean Explorer in January 2021, Ocean Odyssey in March 2022, Ocean Discoverer in September 2022 and Ocean Albatros in October 2022.

China Merchants Industry Holdings

The CMIH facility covers approximately 1,000 acres including what is said to be the world’s largest indoor dock.

It has annual production capacity for one medium to large luxury cruise ship and 1.5 small to medium-sized luxury cruise ships.