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Antarctica Cruises
 Antarctica travel reveals the dramatic extremes of a frozen continent. It holds the title of coldest, driest, windiest, and highest elevation on earth. And when it comes to seeing wildlife up close and, in many instances, totally fearless of man, there's nowhere on earth quite like Antarctica to experience that, except perhaps the Arctic circle in the Northern hemisphere. Antarctica is not an easy place to get to, but increasing numbers of people visit Antarctica every year. Almost all go as a part of an organized expeditionary cruise, frequently guided by experts who are a mixture of seasoned seafarers, and ice or wildlife experts. Antarctic visits are mainly concentrated at ice-free coastal zones over the Antarctic summer, the five-month period from November to March, in high summer there will be 20+ hours of daylight. The formation and movement of sea-ice outside of these times means that from March to November, Antarctica is left to the over-wintering scientific bases and their crews.
Tourism in the Antarctic is mainly by around 20 vessels carrying 45 to 280 passengers each. The ships are ice strengthened and sail primarily to the Antarctic Peninsula region. Tourist ships possibly could get in and out earlier or later in the season, but there is the all too real danger of not being able to get to the places on the itinerary, or more importantly of being stuck in the sea-ice and having an enforced winter (for an extra 8 months or more) as has happened on scientific bases occasionally. So apart from the odd ice-breaker trip that may leave in October, tourist ships just don't risk it outside of these months.
Sample cruise: MV Orion
During the peak of the southern hemisphere summer, Expedition Cruises offers travellers a unique opportunity to venture to the Continent of Antarctica aboard MV Orion. The vessel sails from Australia and New Zealand, crossing the Antarctic Circle to places redolent with history and adventure. Along the way the wildlife they encounter will astound you. The Sub-Antarctic islands are home to penguin breeding colonies numbering in the millions, to Elephant Seals and Hooker Sea Lions, and the endangered Wandering Albatross.
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Orion Expedition Cruises is an Australian based luxury expedition cruise line that was formed in 2004, currently operating a single vessel, the German built 103m, 4000 gross tonne MV Orion. Founded by Australian business woman Sarina Bratton in early 2004, Orion Expedition Cruises (OEC) began actual cruising operations in March 2005 with the repositioning cruise of the MV Orion from Tahiti in French Polynesia to Sydney. Since then OEC has been operating Australian-based expedition-style cruises in areas as diverse as the Antarctic continent to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
The company’s mottos of “a path less travelled” and “it’s in our nature to explore”. The concept behind the formation of the operation was to bring Australian based luxury expedition style cruising to a level never seen before in that country. There had never been an expedition vessel as luxurious and as sophisticated as the MV Orion permanently based in Australia before. Current operations see the company offering expedition cruises to Antarctica from the Australian island of Tasmania and the New Zealand port of Bluff, in the rugged Kimberley region of Western Australia from the port of Darwin, to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands from the ports of Cairns and Rabaul as well as occasional cruises along the east coast of Australia focusing on the Great Barrier Reef and some cruising around Tasmania.
On the 20th May, 2008 Sarina Bratton, Founder and Managing Director of Orion Expedition Cruises announced the purchase of the company by KSL Capital Partners, a leading private equity company in the USA. Under the new ownership, itineraries moving further away from the Australian mainland, including destinations such as Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia, have commenced.
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MV Orion: Vessel Specifications
Length: 103 metres
Beam: 14.25 metres
Draft: 3.82 metres
Hull: Ice-reinforced for voyages in the Arctic and Antarctic Ice Class: E3 (Germanischer Lloyd)
Gross Tonnage: 4,000
Speed: 14.0 knots
Staterooms and Suites: 53
Guest Capacity: 106 (twin occupancy). 24 additional guests may be accommodated in convertible sofa or upper Pullman beds.
Additional Craft: 10 Zodiac Heavy Duty MK5 Inflatables, 10 Sea Kayaks, 2 Jet Boats and a Fishing Boat
MV Orion on the internet:
This page has been compiled from material supplied to us and all information is published as information only. The publishers are not responsible for its accuracy and inclusion of information or other sites linked to it. This page does not constitute any representation or offer by the businesses, services or organisations contained therein.
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