Scenic has christened its second discovery yacht at a ceremony in Malaga.
Scenic co-founder Glen Moroney was joined by Dr Kathryn Sullivan, godmother of Scenic Eclipse II, along with Andalucía deputy tourism minister Víctor González and Carlos Rubio, president of the Malaga port authority, to officially welcome the ship to the line’s fleet.
Hundreds watched on as Dr Sullivan, an American geologist and oceanographer who was one of Nasa’s first female astronauts, smashed a bottle of champagne against the ship’s hull.
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Before completing the maritime tradition, Dr Sullivan praised Scenic’s vision and told onlookers how “honoured and privileged” she was to be made godmother.
“I’ve been going out to sea on all types of ships of different shapes and sizes for many years,” she said.
“But I have to say that this ship has absolutely floored me today. I watched her come into port this morning and was beaming like every proud godmother should before meeting their godchild in person.
“There are many expedition companies out there which do a fine job of taking you to fascinating places, treating you well and keeping you safe.
“[But] Glen and Karen’s vision to combine that level of learning and discovery with an altogether different scale of relaxed comfort and luxury is a very unique combination.”
Moroney labelled Dr Sullivan the “human embodiment” of Scenic’s principles and what it aspires to, before hailing the line’s “unique” shipbuilding process.
“Scenic is very unique as a company because we don’t only come up with the concept of each ship, we don’t only design and engineer it, we also build it, own it and operate it, and everybody who works on board is an employee of Scenic,” he said.
“To my knowledge, with a ship of this complexity, we’re the only company in cruising that does that from the start right to the finish, and I think it shows in the attention to detail and the many ways we go about things.”
Moroney applauded the design team and engineers of Eclipse II, as well as the shipbuilders for their efforts in delivering the vessel ahead of time and on budget, which he said “just doesn’t happen” in the current climate.
“I have done some very difficult things in my life and had some really complex challenges, but building what is behind you [Scenic Eclipse II], when you do it from start to finish, is the most complex thing you could ever take on,” he said.
“It’s not flying to the moon, but it’s not far off. It’s a very difficult job but our team delivered this ship on time and on budget. At the moment there are no ships delivered on time and on budget, so it really was an amazing feat.”
He described the ship’s onboard crew as the “real VIPs”, adding: “You can have a great ship and everything else working for you, but if you haven’t got those committed people on board delivering a fantastic experience for the guests, you don’t have much at all.”
Scenic Eclipse has a capacity of 228 guests (limited to 200 in Polar regions) and features two six-guest helicopters and a six-guest submarine that can dive down to 200 metres, as well as 10 dining options, a spa and indoor and outdoor pools.
The vessel, which completed its maiden voyage in April, is now sailing to Lisbon. It will sail across all seven continents.
Andy Harmer, director of Clia UK & Ireland, hailed Eclipse II as a fantastic addition to the expedition sector.
“The growth of expedition cruising owes much to the new ships entering the sector, so it was great to get the chance to visit Scenic Eclipse II,” he said. “It is a beautiful ship that combines discovery and luxury with the attention to detail and focus on exploration that you expect from the whole sector.”