Rolls-Royce has signed a deal with WestSea Yard to equip an expedition cruise ship for Portuguese-based Mystic Cruises – the cruise company’s first entry into the expedition cruise segment.
The vessel, to be called World Explorer, will be the company’s first expeditionary oceanic cruise ship. World Explorer will offer cruise itineraries in Antarctica from November to March and this new vessel’s first Antarctic season is chartered to Quark Expeditions.
Equipped with environmentally sustainable and top-of-the-line technology developed by Rolls-Royce, World Explorer is the first of several ships to be built by the Portuguese company for its expeditionary cruise line.
Mário Ferreira, Mystic Cruises chief executive said: “These are very exciting times for us, this project is something that we’ve been working on for some time, crafting it to perfection to meet our clients’ and the market’s needs.”
“…For us it’s essential to have a sustainable, efficient and environmental friendly solution. That is why we opted for the hybrid technology that Rolls-Royce proposed.”
Rolls-Royce has supplied two Bergen, C25:33L8P main engines and a Bergen C25:33L6P auxiliary dual generator. These connect to a low voltage AFE SaveCube power electric system that allows the engines to operate at variable speeds maximising their efficiency for the required power. Rolls-Royce is also providing the automation and control system, and the complete Promas propulsion system with two CPP propellers integrated with two flap rudders, also steering gears and tunnel thrusters.
World Explorer will have an operating cruise speed of 16 knots with a strengthened hull and propellers for traversing ice. It will have capacity for 200 guests and a tonnage of 9,300 gt.
Construction of the vessel, designed by Italian Naval Architect Giuseppe Tringali, is already underway at the WestSea Shipyard in northern Portugal with completion expected October 2018.
Mystic Cruises belongs to the holding company Mystic Invest which also owns river cruise company DouroAzul and German company Nicko Cruises.
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