A former cruise ship which now carriesstudents on the Semester at Sea programme will dock at Lloyd Werft Bremerhavenfrom 4 May to 16 May in its first visit to a German shipyard since the 24,318GT ship was built at Blohm & Voss in Hamburg in 2001.
The floating university, the Explorer, can carryup to 836 passengers who study some 75 courses on offer in conjunction with theUniversity of Virginia as they travel round the world. Port stops allowstudents to go on study trips in countries often linked to courses.
The vessel, which is equipped with lecturetheatres and a students’ hostel, will undergo routine classification work and repairs to itssuperstructures and engine plant plus other improvements while docked.
The conventional cruise career of the formerGreek-flagged Olympia Explorer lasted just four years before the vessel wasfirst taken over for schooling purposes by the Institute for Shipboard Education atthe University of Chicago in Charlottesville. The Semester at Sea programme hasbeen going since 1963.
