If cruising to the Antarctic has always been top of your bucket list but you dread battling the stomach-churning high seas of the Drake Passage, then Aurora Expeditions may be your answer.
The line has just launched its innovative expedition ship, Greg Mortimer equipped with a cutting-edge prow designed to cut through choppy waves and keep the ship steady in the roughest seas, the usual cause of sea sickness.
It is the first passenger vessel in the world with an Ulstein X-Bow technology, an inverted bow design that enables the ship to pierce waves with much greater stability than a traditional bow. This means that the ship navigating the world’s heaviest seas like the Drake Passage will be steadier than most.
The novel-shaped X-Bow absorbs the force of the waves more consistently and drastically improves the steadiness of the journey. Instead of gliding up and over the waves, like a traditional ship, the low prow cuts into the waves and slices through the rough Antarctic seas.
The result is a smoother and calmer sail for passengers. Aurora is hoping that it will be the ideal expedition vessel to get passengers to the wildest parts of the planet in the most comfortable way.
“We can’t change the weather forecast, but what we do have a say in, is how our ships are designed and built to take on the roughest parts of the southern and Arctic Ocean,” says the company.
“The bow penetrates the waves in a way where the water gently flows over the bow – reducing impact and slamming loads.”
The design and technology of the X-Bow has previously been used on deep sea oil service and survey ships. The concept was first developed by Norwegian shipwrights Ulstein back in 2005. But Aurora is the first to build a cruise ship with the X-Bow to take passengers on Antarctic expeditions.
The technology also makes the vessel more fuel efficient and minimises the vibrations and disruptions to marine life, the company said.
Greg Mortimer is named after the Australian explorer, mountaineer and co-founder of Aurora Expeditions.
She will be debut in October and sail to the Antarctic and South Shetland Islands from Ushuaia, Argentina on 13-day itineraries.
