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SunStone orders sixth Infinity-class newbuild in China

Sunstone ships signs sixth infinity
A sixth Infinity-class newbuild is signed. SunStone's Niels-Erik Lund is second from right
Miami-based SunStone Ships signed to build a sixth Infinity-class expedition vessel in China and said it already has a long-term charter agreement in place. Delivery is set for September 2021.

Expects four more orders by year's end

In addition, SunStone expects to sign for a seventh newbuild in May, and pick up the remaining three options within 2019.

'We have worked diligently in obtaining the long-term charters and shipbuilding orders for the Infinity-class vessels and we continue to move forward with the contracts and building at a very satisfactory speed, safety and quality level,' said Niels-Erik Lund, president and CEO, SunStone Ships.

Patented X-BOW design

The Infinity-class ships feature Norwegian design (Ulstein Design & Solutions' X-BOW), and construction is taking place at China Merchants Heavy Industries in Haimen.

The vessels are 104 meters long and 18 meters wide, with a draft of 5.1 meters. Passenger capacity can range from 130 to 200, and crew capacity between 85 and 115. The vessels are designed as Ice Class 1A/Polar Code 6 and have dynamic positioning and zero-speed stabilizers.

Current Infinity newbulds under way include Greg Mortimer, scheduled for delivery this August; Ocean Victory (September 2020), Ocean Explorer (February 2021), Ocean Odyssey (March 2022) and Ocean Discoverer (September 2022).