The remaining Oceanwide Expeditions passengers on both sides of the Atlantic left quarantine this week, bringing an end to the outbreak which caught the attention of the world's media and resulted in several fatalities.
After speaking at the Expedition Cruise Network's Summer Soiree event on Wednesday (24 June), Franklin Braeckman, Antarctic Programme Manager at Oceanwide, told TTG the line is keen to continue executing its growth plans following the hantavirus outbreak.
Oceanwide is set to launch two 146-passenger vessels in 2029 and 2030 with sailings going on sale next year. According to Braeckman, the ships' propellers can be used as turbines to generated electricity onboard.
Braeckman insisted the icebreaker ships would operate in the polar regions and will double the capacity of the Oceanwide fleet which currently includes 170-passenger Hondius, 108-passenger Ortelius, 108-passenger Plancius and three-mast schooner Rembrandt van Reign, which can carry up to 33 passengers.
"One day soon our two older ships will leave the fleet and then that will leave us with three modern ships," he said. "It's a continuous process.
"The new ships join the fleet from 2029 so we do not have a complete plan yet, but we need to make sure these ships are widely known about."
Braeckman said there would be opportunities for agents to see one of the ships in May or September when they reposition from one polar region to the another.
When asked if Oceanwide would use the publicity of the ship launches to distance itself from the hantavirus tragedy, Braeckman said: "One is not linked to the other. It was just a pure coincidence that happened to us. We really want to focus on the future, but we don't want to forget what happened."
Braeckman said when the outbreak began Oceanwide "wanted to try and avoid any speculation and just confirm the facts".
"We had to act very quickly when this happened and we asked for help from a PR agency," he added.
