Expedition Cruising

Viking Expeditions will begin sailing in January 2022 with Viking Octantis on voyages to Antarctica and North America’s Great Lakes.

Hurtigruten Americas unveiled a new travel agent portal to provide a seamless sales experience.

Portugal’s Mystic Cruises ordered four additional 200-passenger expedition vessels from WestSea Viana do Castelo. They are sisters of 2019’s 9,300gt World Explorer.

Bookings are open for Quark Expeditions’ Ultramarine inaugural Arctic season in 2021, with voyages spanning Spitsbergen, Greenland, and the Canadian Arctic.

Aurora Expeditions’ Greg Mortimer and Sylvia Earle will offer a variety of new itineraries and destinations in 2021/22, including Antarctica and the South Sandwich Islands, Ireland and Costa Rica.

Arctic tourism stakeholders contributed to a report that outlines knowledge gaps and research needed to support responsible tourism management.

Oceanwide Expeditions released its 2021 Arctic itineraries for its fleet comprising Hondius (170 passengers), Ortelius, Plancius (both with 108 passengers), and schooners Rembrandt van Rijn (33 passengers), and Noorderlicht (20 passengers).

Croatia’s Brodosplit shipyard started cutting steel for Oceanwide Expeditions’ new Polar Class 6 ship Janssonius.

Outdoor apparel company Helly Hansen has become the official apparel partner for Seabourn as the line expands into expedition cruising.

The Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators voiced its support for the Norwegian government’s proposed ban of heavy fuel oil on Svalbard.