The UK boss of Silversea Cruises believes the recently-acquired Silver Endeavour is the “very best ship in Antarctica”.
The luxury and expedition cruise operator bought the $275 million last month and plans to relaunch it later this year in Antarctica.
UK and Ireland managing director Peter Shanks told a Travel Weekly webcast Silversea were “a bit behind the eight ball” in terms of the ages of its expedition hardware prior to the acquisition of Endeavour.
The ship will take over Explorer’s itineraries from November 28, 2022, to February 12, 2023.
Silversea’s expeditions arm operates Silver Wind, Silver Cloud, Silver Explorer and Galapagos-based Silver Origin.
However, Silver Explorer is due to exit the fleet following the acquisition of Silver Endeavour.
Shanks said: “We have beautiful ships but they’re older ships. We built the brand-new Silver Origin which is a runaway success. The older ships – the Wind and the Cloud – are doing really well.
“We were able to purchase Silver Endeavour from Crystal Cruises which actually was the most expensive ship ever built for its size and we got it for a very good price.
“Now at a stroke, we believe we have the very best ship in Antarctica.”
Shanks said Silversea would soon announce Endeavour’s itineraries up to 2025.
Last week, the line accidently revealed the name of its second Nova-class vessel – Silver Ray.
“We forgot to announce the name of our new ship and it crept out in the itinerary list,” Shanks explained.
“That’s what happens when you’re launching so many things and so many ships.”