With the cruise industry on its knees during the Covid-19 lockdown, what better time to invest in luxury newbuildings?
At least, that is what Wartsila and newcomer Amundsen Expeditions must be hoping with their new design deal.
The Finnish technology company has agreed to come up with a customised blueprint for six 200-passenger polar exploration ships for the start-up.
Voyages are being targeted primarily at the growing Chinese market.
The order with Wartsila was signed in the third quarter of 2019, but has only now been announced.
Amundsen Expeditions' Captain Rajko Zupan was quoted as saying: "We have great respect for Wartsila’s experience and broad portfolio of high quality solutions. This is important to us as these cruiseships are highly complex and require advanced design expertise."
Zupan has been actively involved in the ship’s design since the inception of the project.
Wartsila told TradeWinds the shipyard involved is confidential. No price has been revealed.
Master mariner turns owner?
The Finnish company provided a number and email in the Netherlands for Zupan.
He told TradeWinds he could not provide any more information on the company.
"I was involved in design of the vessel due to my past experience and that's it," he said.
"Presently very happy nautical instructor passing the same experience to younger generations."
He appears on LinkedIn as a nautical instructor at Carnival-backed CSMART - Center for Simulator Maritime Training in the Netherlands.
He was the owner of Blue Seas Project between 2012 and 2018. This aimed to design an environmental friendly, safe and secure cruise vessel.
This was combined with his day job working as a captain with Paul Gauguin Cruises.
He has more than 30 years of maritime experience.
The Slovenian/Croatian national was born in 1954 and trained at the Nautical Academy in Split, Croatia.
"The ships are designed to operate efficiently in both tropical and polar waters. Because of the harsh environment and often remote location of the cruise destinations, special attention has been given to ensuring the ships’ operational reliability," said Markku Miinala, general manager of Ship Design Sales at Wartsila Marine.
The vessels are designed to be fitted with Wartsila 32 engines, selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems for the abatement of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, electric propulsion, the Wartsila Nacos Platinum bridge system for navigation and communication, as well as Wartsila automation solutions.
The eventual supply package is likely to be supported by a 10-year maintenance agreement.
