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Withdrawn May 2019 |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Withdrawn May 2019 |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.
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.