MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Antarctica returning to pre pandemic capacity levels, Cruise Industry Annual Report

Le Commandant Charcot, from Ponanat, with Home port in Ushuaia (Argentina); and Dunedin and Lyttelton (New Zealand)

Antarctica is returning to pre-pandemic capacity levels in the 2022-2023 season following a disrupted 2021-2022 season and no cruise traffic in 2020-2021. According to the latest edition of the Cruise Industry News Annual Report, Antarctica will receive a total of 55 ships from several different brands, including Hurtigruten, Ponant, Viking, and Seabourn

Some of the plans and operators in the region,

Hurtigruten Expeditions; three ships, Fridtjof Nansen, Roald Amundsen and Fram Homeports: Ushuaia (Argentina); and Punta Arenas (Chile) Itinerary highlights: Antarctic Peninsula, South Shetland Islands, South Georgia, Falkland Islands and more.

Ponant, Ships: Five – Le Commandant Charcot, Le Lyrial, Le Soléal, L’Austral and Le Boreal; Homeports: Ushuaia (Argentina); Dunedin and Lyttelton (New Zealand); Itinerary highlights: Ross Sea, Amundsen Sea, Marie Byrd Land, Weddell Sea, South Shetlands, South Orkneys and more.

Silversea Expeditions Ships: Three – Silver Endeavour, Silver Wind and Silver Cloud Homeports: King George Island (Antarctica); and Puerto Williams (Chile) Itinerary highlights: Antarctic Sound, Antarctic Peninsula, South Shetland Islands, Drake Passage and more.

Oceanwide Expeditions, Ships: Three–Hondius, Plancius and Ortelius. Homeports: Ushuaia (Argentina); and Bluff (New Zealand)
Itinerary highlights: Antarctic Peninsula, Peter I Island, Ross Sea, Macquarie Island, South Georgia and more.

Viking, Ships: Two – Viking Polaris and Viking Octantis, Homeport, Ushuaia (Argentina) Itinerary highlights: Half Moon Island, Whalers Bay, Brown Bluff, Lemaire Channel, Neko Harbor, South Georgia and more.

In related news the Cruise Industry Annual report published that 2022 was a big year for the cruise ship building business, with a total of 20 new cruise vessels delivered in 2022.

From large contemporary vessels to smaller expedition and luxury ships, the year’s lineup included all kinds of ships and products.

A total of 16 cruise lines debuted new ships during year, including Carnival, P&O, Viking and MSC – who received two new large vessels, the MSC World Europa and the MSC Seascape.

The expedition fleet also saw significant additions, with new ships for Swan Hellenic, SunStone, Viking and Atlas Ocean.