The production of the 3rd of Swan Hellenic's luxury expedition cruise ships ordered from Helsinki Shipyard started on June 10th. The project “NB518” progressed as expected, and the yard has started cutting steel parts.
The 3rd ship to be delivered to Swan Hellenic, like the 2 vessels already in production, SH Vega and SH Minerva, represents a new generation of expedition ships (Vega class) and is designed for the global market, with an emphasis on voyages at high latitudes. The newbuld is scheduled for delivery to the customer at the end of next year. Yet-to-be-named, NB518 is larger than the sisterships and designed to cruise to all continents.
Unlike the previous ships in the series, the steel blocks of NB518 are manufactured at Poland's CRIST shipyard (in Gdynia) then barged to Helsinki Finland. Production work will start during the autumn months, and the hull assembly will commence with a keel-laying at the end of 2021.
The newbuild Vega3 boasts a 4.6 MW diesel-electric hybrid machine with exhaust cleaning, maximum 3 MW battery capacity, as well as PC6 ice-class hull. The 12,000 GT, 125-metre ship is specially designed to explore the most inaccessible spots on Earth.
The vessel provides spacious 5-star accommodation for 192 passengers in 96 cabins and suites, most of which with private balconies. The boat will be served by 140 crew/staff to provide the highest level of personal service.