"We want to be known as a leader in this area, as a luxury expedition cruise line. It’s a very clear directive from our owners,” Conrad Combrink, director of expedition planning and strategic development for Silversea, told TTG.
Following its Baltic sailings in August 2017, Silver Cloud will enter dry dock in Europe for 70 days for work to reinforce its hull and transform it into an Ice Class ship to enable it to navigate through sea ice. It will then sail its inaugural voyage as an expedition ship on November 15, 2017, with four voyages that year of 10 to 19 days, sailing mostly round-trips from Ushuaia, South America.
“We started going into the area with Explorer – eight years on, we will have four ships designed for expeditions, which is a very exciting area of our industry,” said Combrink.
He said Silversea is investing a “considerable amount of money” into ensuring Silver Cloud is expedition ready. “This is an important differentiator for us,” he said.
Silver Cloud was built for 296 passengers, but as an expedition ship its capacity will be reduced to 260 guests although numbers will be restricted to just 200 on Arctic and Antarctic itineraries as per operational guidelines.
During the dry dock, larger Silver Suites will be added and the gym will be converted to an observation lounge. Combrink said the shipyard for the project was yet to be announced. “Europe’s yards are so busy at the moment with big ship builds,” he said.
“Few expedition ships are available or being built – despite what seems to be positive consumer demand. The economics of small ships don’t always add up, but we are very aggressive with this expansion and determined to be a luxury expedition cruise line.”
Elsewhere in the expedition fleet, Discoverer is to be positioned in the Indian Ocean for the first time with a port call in Bangladesh – the first commercial cruise ship to call there, Silversea said. The stop is part of the 16-day, Colombo-to-Kolkata February 11 sailing to the Andaman Islands and Bangladesh, including Chittagong, Maheshkhali Island and the Sundarbans.
