- Hapag-Lloyd Cruises orders 2 expedition ships
- One for German market & one for English speakers
- To join fleet in 2019
Two identical 240-passenger vessels are to be built by Vard in Norway for Hamburg-based Hapag-Lloyd Cruises for launch in April and October 2019.
They are part of Haag-Lloyd’s part of plans to expand its five-star expedition fleet vessels are scheduled, opening up its polar and Antarctic cruise options. The vessels will be equipped with state-of-the-art polar technology, which means they can cruise in the polar regions of the Arctic and Antarctica, but also in warmer regions, such as the Amazon.
The cruise line has confirmed that the 120-cabin ships will feature onboard Zodiacs, a water sports marina, three restaurants and a spa and fitness area.
One ship will serve the German-speaking cruise market including Germany, Austria and Switzerland and the other will serve additional markets in Belgium, England, Netherlands, Australia and the USA.
Sebastian Ebel, a member of the executive board of TUI Group in charge of cruises, said: “the cruise business is one of the key elements of TUI’s growth strategy. Our ambitions are underpinned by our investment in the two new ships for Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ luxury and expedition cruise segments serve as world-class benchmarks.”
Karl J Pojer CEO of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises said: “already we operate successfully in our expedition segment, which offers growth potential for five-star cruises. Our new-builds will help us to develop further the expedition segment and offer a modern interpretation. They will also serve to strengthen our leading position in this market, in particular at the international level. The former director Albert Ballin invented the modern cruise concept 125 years ago. We are perfectly positioned in the luxury market with our cruise ships “EUROPA” and “EUROPA 2”. In this anniversary year, we are charting the course for the future.”
- See press release here.
- Watch here Helen Caron head of Cruise Division at Thomson/TUI explaining why her latest cruise ship was named TUI Discovery and not Thomson Discovery.
See below data for each ship:
- GT 16,100
- Length: 138 metres
- Width: 22 metres
- Draught: 5.4 metres
- Passenger decks: 7
- Cabins and suites: 120
- Maximum passenger capacity: 240 persons
- Crew: Up to 170 crew members
- High ratio of balcony cabins
- Restaurants: 3
- Modern spa and fitness area
- Interior design: Architecture firm Oceanarchitects
