In the first week of February 2021 the expedition cruise vessels ‘Ocean Explorer’ and ‘Ocean Victory’, of the ULSTEIN CX103 designs, completed their sea trials. Both vessels are under construction at the CMHI yard, China. All equipment and systems have successfully been tested at sea.
These next-generation expedition cruise vessels are now back to the yard for their final polishing.
The ‘Ocean Victory‘, number three in the INFINITY series of expedition cruise vessels for SunStone Ships, has been chartered out to Albatros Expeditions for Antarctica journeys in the winter season and to American Queen Steamboat Co., through its sister company Victory Cruise Lines, for Alaska cruises in the summer.
The ‘Ocean Victory’ offers 93 suites. She differs from the first vessel in this series, the ‘Greg Mortimer‘, by having an infinity pool installed, and the bridge wings have been replaced by two observation platforms.
The ‘Ocean Explorer‘ is vessel number four, and will be operated by Vantage Cruise Line. Like her sister vessels in this series, she is carrying the patented Ulstein feature, the ULSTEIN X-BOW®. The ‘Ocean Explorer’ has a chic arrangement in the bow area where the deck has been lifted and an arch-like lounge is created in front of the bow. This lounge is equipped with glass windows in the bow part, providing 270-degree views. Sea animals playing in front of the vessel can be observed directly by the passengers in the lounge.
Short film taken by Ulstein sea trial team of the ‘Ocean Explorer’:
