Swan Hellenic’s second ice-class ship has embarked on its inaugural expedition cruise of the Arctic.
SH Vega departed from Tromsø, Norway on an 11-day exploration of the Svalbard Archipelago.
The sailing follows a shipyard naming in Helsinki for the vessel, which features a five-megawatt diesel-electric propulsion system.
Preparations have been also made to implement battery technology which would also make it possible for SH Vega and sister ship SH Minerva to operate silently.
SH Vega’s maiden season covers Svalbard, Iceland, Greenland and northern Canada.
The vessel will then sail down the US east coast over 12 days, taking in New York, Norfolk, Charleston and Miami.
A range of 11 to 21-day cultural expedition cruises of Antarctica follow between November until March 2023, when the ship sails up the west coast of Africa to the Canary Islands and western Europe.
Britain and Ireland will feature on the way to a second Arctic season. This will end with a crossing from Greenland to Nova Scotia, followed by the Caribbean and then Brazil in October 2023.
Swan Hellenic chief executive Andrea Zito said: “We are proud to bring our unique cultural expedition cruises to the Artic for the first time, welcoming Swan Hellenic enthusiasts new and old aboard our elegant second new ship to see what others don’t.
“Wowed by the relaxed comfort of her innovative and stylish design, they’ll soon realise that everything is actually focused on fully experiencing the wonderful world outside.”
SH Minerva and SH Vega will be joined early next year by the slightly larger SH Diana, which is already under construction at Helsinki Shipyard.