Polar Expedition Cruise Ships Past and Present (Revised)

This is an adapted version of the table on Pages 170-174 of Penguins and Polar Bears. It has revised passenger and crew numbers with an added column for staff, where known.

Polar Expedition Cruise Ships Past and Present (Revised)

Name

Previous Name

Built

Pax1

Crew

(*)

Staff

(*)

SR

Ice

Notes

Akademik Ioffe

 

1989

92/

110

42

22

48

1A

Withdrawn May 2019

Akademik Sergey Vavilov

 

1988

92/

110

42

21

48

1A

Withdrawn May 2019

Akademik Boris Petrov

 

1984

42

32

   

Y

 

Akademik Shokalskiy

 

1982

48/

54

22

10

24

1D

 

Aleksey Maryshev

 

1990

46

22

6

23

1D

Laid up 2010

Alexander von Humboldt2

Minerva

1996

350

155

15

   

Currently laid up

Antarctic Dream

Piloto Pardo

1959

80

43

   

1A

Laid up 2012

Bremen

Frontier Spirit

1990

164

94

11

82

E4

 

Caledonian Sky

Renaissance VI

1991

114

70

17

57

Y

 

Clelia II

Renaissance IV

1991

98

65

10

49

?

 

Clipper Adventurer

Alla Tarasova

1975

122

72

9

61

1A

 

Corinthian3

Clelia II

1990

98

65

7

 

1D

 

Crystal Serenity4

 

2003

1070

645

20

545

N

 

Europa

 

1911

40

14

3

   

3 mast Barque

Expedition

Ålandsfärjan

1972

134

56

14

67

1B

Built as a ferry

Explorer

Lindblad Explorer

1969

104

52

9

50

1A

Sank 2007

Antarctic

Fram

 

2006

318

70

15

124

1B

 

Fridjof Nansen

 

2019

530

151

 

265

PC6

 

Greg Mortimer

 

2019

120

56

 

60

1A

 

Grigoriy Mikheev

 

1990

46

22

5

23

1D

 

Hamburg

cColumbus

1997

400

163

17

197

No

Great Lakes Fitted

Pax=Passengers, lower berth: SR.= Staterooms; Ice, Y=Yes, but degree not known; E3, E4= Germanischer Lloyd, 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, Lloyds Class; L3, UL Russian Register; IB=Ice Breaker. N=No Ice Class

(*) Staff and crew numbers are those seen most frequently for the ship on Antarctic cruises. However, these can vary considerably depending on the nature of the cruise.

Name

Previous Name

Built

Pax

Crew

Staff

SR

Ice

Notes

Hanseatic

 

1193

184

114

9

92

E4

 

HANSEATIC Inspiration

 

2019

199/

230

170

In

crew

120

PC6

Great Lakes Fitted

HANSEATIC Nature

 

2019

199/

230

170

In crew

120

PC6

 

Hebridean Sky5

Sea Explorer

1991

120

70

15

59

1C

 

Hondius

 

2019

176

72

 

83

PC6

 

Illiria

 

1962

209

       

Scrapped ?

Island Sky6

 

1992

120

70

15

59

1C

 

Kapitan Dranitsyn

 

1980

106

75

13

53

I/B

 

Kapitan Khlebnikov7

 

1981

108

70

13

54

I/B

 

L’Austral

 

2009

264

146

13

132

1C

 

Le Boreal

 

2009

264

146

13

132

1C

 

Le Bougainville

 

2019

184

110

 

92

1C

 

Le Champlain

 

2018

184

110

 

92

1C

 

Le Dumont d’Urville

 

2019

184

110

 

92

1C

 

Le Laperouse

 

2018

184

110

 

92

1C

 

Le Levant

 

1998

90

60

 

45

N

Now Clio

Le Lyrial

 

2015

264

146

13

132

1C

 

Le Soleal

 

2013

264

146

13

132

1C

 

Lindblad Explorer

 

1969

104

52

9

50

1A

Sank 2007

Livonia

Arnold Veymer

1984

52

23

 

26

Y

Now HSwNS Trosso

Lyubov Orlova8

 

1976

110

63

10

53

L3

Sank 2013

Magellan Explorer

 

2019

70/

100

60

   

PC6

 

Marco Polo

Aleksandr Pushkin

1965

848

300

12

 

1C

See text for history

Maria Yermalova

 

1973

122

56

12

61

1A

scrapped

Midnatsol

 

2003

500

115

17

278

1C

 

Minerva

 

1996

350

155

15

 

1D

Laid up

Ntl Geo Endeavour

     

60

12

     

Ntl. Geo. Explorer

Midnatsol II

1982

154

85

14

81

1A

 

Ntl Geo. Orion

Orion

2003

102

64

11

53

E3

 

Noorderlicht

Falkgrund

1910

20

   

10

Bow

2 mast Schooner

Ocean Atlantic

Konstantin Chernenko

1985

198

104

21

99

1B

 

Name

Previous Name

Built

Pax

Crew

Staff

SR

Ice

Notes

Ocean Adventurer9

Clipper Adventurer

1975

132

75

18

61

1A

 

Ocean Diamond

Le Diamant

1974

366

100

29

189

1D

 

Ocean Endeavour10

Kristina Katerina

1982

199

115

33

100

1B

 

Ocean Nova

Sarpik Ittuk

1992

96

34

12

38

1A

 

Orion

 

2003

106

60

8

53

E3

 

Ortelius

Marina Svetaeva

1980

100/

116

41

10

53

LI

 

Plancius

HNLMS

Tydeman

1976

116

37

10

53

1D

 

Polar Circle

 

1990

95

   

35

IB

Scrap 2016

Polar Pioneer

Akademik Shuleykin

1982

54

25

8

26

1D

 

Polar Prince11

Humphrey Gilbert

1958

55

20

5

 

1B

Now charter research

Polar Star

Njord

1969

96

35

10

46

1B

Possibly scrap

Polaris12

Shearwater

1968

76

36

 

38

1A

Now internal Russian service

Prince Albert II

World Discoverer13

1989

132

111

11

66

1A

 

Professor Multanovskiy

 

1983

48/

52

30

 

24

1D

 

Professor Molchanov

 

1982

48/

52

30

 

24

1D

 

Quest

Sea Endurance

1992

53

   

26

1B

 

RCGS Resolute

Hanseatic

1993

184

100

23

92

E4

 

Rembrandt van Rijn

Enno Doedens Star

1924

33

12

   

?

3 Mast Schooner

Roald Amundsen

 

2019

530

151

9

265

PC6

 

Scenic Eclipse

 

2019

228

182

 

114

PC6

 

Sea Adventurer

Ocean Adventurer

1975

132

70

12

61

1A

 

Sea Endurance

Saqqit Ittuk

1992

53

   

26

1B

 

Sea Explorer

Corinthian II

1992

114

67

12

57

?

 

Sea Spirit

Spirit of Oceanus

1991

120

70

 

59

1C

Built as Renaissance V

Seabourn Quest

 

2011

450

355

19

225

No

 

Shearwater

Disko

1968

76

36

 

38

1A

 

Name

Previous Name

Built

Pax

Crew

Staff

SR

Ice

Notes

Silver Cloud14

 

1994

260

201

25

148

1C

 

Silver Explorer

Prince Albert II

1989

144

107

12

66

1A

 

Society Explorer

Lindblad Explorer

1969

104

63

13

 

1A

Sank 2007

Spirit of Enderby15

Professor Khromov

1983

48

30

 

24

1D

 

Spitsbergen16

Atlantida

2009

280/

290

70

10

106

1C

 

The World17

 

2002

200

286

16

165

1C

 

Ushuaia

Malcolm Baldridge

1970

84

36

5

46

Y

 

World Discoverer

 

1975

137

93

13

76

1A

Wrecked 2000, Solomon Isl.

World Explorer

 

2019

176

125

   

1B

 

1 Passenger numbers for Polar Cruising, particularly Antarctica, may be limited to 200 persons

2 There is a sail training vessel of the same name. From 2003 this ship chartered to Abercrombie and Kent Dec-Apr. as Explorer II and sailed with 198 passengers. During May-Nov chartered to Phoenix Reisen as Alexander von Humboldt. Also sailed in Antarctic as Minerva

3Launched as Renaissance IV The first four Renaissance small cruise ships were slightly different dimensions and capacity than the second group of four ships.

4 Capacity prior to 2018 refit, which reduced numbers to 980.

5 Built as Renaissance VII

6 Built as Renaissance VIII

7 Initially reported retired from passenger service in 2012 and returned to Icebreaker escort duty on the NSR. However, in expedition cruise service in 2016.

8 Arrested in St John’s NL in 2010, the ship was eventually presumed sunk off the coast of Eire in 2013 during a scrap tow. Crew numbers on board in St. John’s reported to be 51. This number may have excluded officers.

9

10 Delivered as Konstantin Simonov. Refits 1988,2001,2010,2014

11 A single trip in 2017 with a special purpose passenger ship certificate for Canada’s C3.Passengers were invited guests for specific voyage legs.

12 Charter to G.A.P. Adventures in 2007

13 Note this a different cruise ship to the one given in this table as having cruised the Canadian Arctic, and being wrecked Solomon Islands.

14 Ice strengthened 2017

15 To be replaced by Greg Mortimer from the 2019/20 Antarctic season

16 Doubler plates added to hull.

17 The World is owned by its residents. It is not a cruise ship per se and does not take cruise bookings.