Douglas Mawson

The 2025-built MS Douglas Mawson cruise ship is an ice-strengthened (Polar Class 1A / PC6) expedition vessel, originally named "Ocean Discoverer" and initially scheduled for delivery and inauguration in March 2023. The vessel is owned by the Danish company SunStone Maritime Group via its Florida USA-based subsidiary, SunStone Ships Inc.

Like all Aurora Expeditions Australia ships, Douglas Mawson (IMO number 9992713) is currently Bahamas-flagged (MMSI 311000951) and registered in Nassau.

She is the seventh and final ship in SunStone’s INFINITY series.

The vessel is named after Sir Douglas Mawson (1882–1958), a British-born Australian geologist and Antarctic explorer, who was a prominent figure of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration (1897–1922), alongside Sir Ernest Shackleton, Roald Amundsen, and Robert Falcon Scott.

Ocean Discoverer was originally planned for seasonal chartering by Victory Cruise Lines (a subsidiary of AQSC-American Queen Voyages) and Albatros Expeditions (Copenhagen, Denmark-based Arctic and Antarctic cruise operator owned by Albatros Travel Group Ltd).

In April 2022, SunStone CEO Niels-Erik Lund announced that construction of Unit 7 (Ocean Discoverer) was canceled due to undisclosed reasons. However, in January 2023, SunStone confirmed the ship would be built as scheduled, with a signed contract with CMIH (China Merchants Heavy Industry).

Note: The BOUNDLESS-class ships, designed by OSK-ShipTech (Denmark), are larger (12,000–13,000 GT vs INFINITY’s 7400 GT) and accommodate 200–300 passengers, compared to INFINITY’s 140.

Itineraries

The vessel is exclusively long-term chartered to Aurora Expeditions. The year-round polar itineraries visit East Antarctica, the Ross Sea (between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land), and the New Zealand Subantarctic territories (Snares Islands, Bounty Islands, Antipodes Islands, Auckland Islands, Campbell Island).

The Maiden Voyage is a 10-night "Coastal Tasmania: Untamed Wilderness Cruise" circumnavigating Tasmania, roundtrip from Hobart, departing December 1, 2025. Ports of call include Bruny Island, Recherche Bay, Maatsuyker Islands, Hunter Islands, Kent Islands, Flinders Island, Freycinet Peninsula, Maria Island, and Port Arthur.

Other inaugural itineraries (2025–2026) included: "East Antarctica Expedition" (retracing Mawson's 1911–1914 Australasian Antarctic Expedition), "Ross Sea Odyssey", "Subantarctic Discovery", "Epic Antarctica: Crossing the 7th Continent", "Coastal Tasmania: Untamed Wilderness".

Aurora Expeditions’ "Antarctica Active" program offers all-inclusive activities such as paddling, snowshoeing, and overnight ice camping.

Ship Technology

Douglas Mawson is the seventh and final vessel in the ULSTEIN CX103-designed INFINITY-class series. Sisterships include: Greg Mortimer (2019), Ocean Victory (2021), Ocean Explorer (2021), Sylvia Earle (2022), Ocean Odyssey (2022), Ocean Albatros (2022). Four additional planned units were canceled and replaced by the BOUNDLESS class.

The patented ULSTEIN X-BOW hull design offers superior fuel efficiency and greater stability in rough seas. The vessel is technically managed by Cruise Management International (Miami-based), with hotel operations by CMI Leisure. Interior design is by Tomas Tillberg Design (Weston, Florida).

With ice class 1A (Polar Class 6 / PC6), MS Douglas Mawson has an icebreaking capacity of 1 meter (3 feet) and complies with the latest IMO Polar Code standards for environmental protection and passenger safety.

The ULSTEIN X-BOW reduces vertical movement and wave resistance, allowing smoother and faster navigation while decreasing fuel use and emissions.

The vessel features dynamic positioning systems for automated station-keeping using thrusters and propellers. This allows stable floating and safe watercraft operations without using anchors.

Shipboard Facilities

This newbuild expedition vessel offers:

• Outdoor Observation Deck with two hydraulic platforms and two viewing platforms
• Stern Marina for sea kayaking, snorkeling, and diving programs
• Fleet of 20x Zodiacs for landings and tendering
• Innovative aft Zodiac loading platform for faster boarding
• Sun Deck (forward top-deck) with premium furniture for wildlife viewing
• Observation Lounge with Bar (top-deck bow)
• Medical Center (Infirmary)
• Mudroom (changing room for excursions)
• Bar Lounge (lecture theater, Deck 5 forward)
• Main Dining Room
• Ship Shop
• Reception Lobby
• Library and Art Room
• Wellness Center (fitness, spa, sauna, treatment rooms)
• Lower Sun Deck (Deck 7 aft, with lifeboats/liferafts)
• Upper Sun Deck (Deck 8 midship, with sunbathing area and two whirlpools)
• Four sea-level Zodiac Docks (two per side)

Cabins

Douglas Mawson has 86 passenger staterooms (capacity 186 guests), including 68 Balcony, 9 French Balcony, and 16 Porthole cabins. The ship is served by 100 crew members accommodated in 57 crew cabins.

80% of the cabins (excluding Deck 3 Porthole rooms) have private step-out balconies accessible via floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors. Each balcony features a table and two chairs. 60% of cabins support triple occupancy with a pull-out sofa bed.

• Cabin furnishings include: hotel-style beds (king or twin, 200 x 160 cm), sofabed, bedside cabinets, mirrored vanity/writing desk, chair, dressers, mini-bar/refrigerator, 42” smart HDTV (local/satellite), phone (internal use), digital alarm clock, seating area, wardrobe with safe, individual climate control, and emergency button.
• Private full-size bathroom with shower/WC, hairdryer, and premium bath amenities.
• Three suite categories: CS (Captain’s Suite), JS (Junior Suite), and BS (Balcony Suite), all with double-sized balconies and added amenities such as in-room dining (continental breakfast on the balcony).

There are 20 pairs of connecting balcony cabins that can be booked as one "family stateroom" for up to six guests. The ship does not have wheelchair-accessible cabins.

SunStone's shipbuilding contract with CMIH for Ocean Explorer (4th) and Ocean Discoverer (5th) Infinity-class vessels was signed on November 13, 2018, by Frank Zheng (CMIH's Vice General Manager) and Lars Ståle Skoge (Ulstein's Commercial Director).

The ship-charter agreement with AQSC for Ocean Discoverer (Victory Cruise Line's fourth ship) was announced on March 4, 2020. The vessel was scheduled for delivery in September 2022 and intended for 12- to 13-day expedition voyages in Alaska starting in 2023.

The charter deal also includes a partnership with Miami-based CMI Leisure Management, which provides ship management services including staffing, hotel operations, housekeeping, onboard food and beverages, procurement, and logistics. CMI Leisure is a global leader in small-ship hospitality and management services.

On March 16, 2017, SunStone Ships Inc signed an initial shipbuilding agreement with the Hong Kong-based China Merchants Industry Holdings (CMIH) for the construction of four expedition vessels. SunStone is the world’s largest expedition shipowner (by tonnage), chartering its vessels to cruise operators. The agreement included an option for six additional sisterships, allowing for up to ten vessels to be built under the ULSTEIN CX103 project. The USD 260 million contract for the first four ships was signed in June 2017.

CMIH is a subsidiary of China Merchants Group, one of China's largest conglomerates. As part of the SunStone project, CMIH partnered with the Norwegian company Ulstein Design (Ulstein Group, headquartered in Ulsteinvik, Norway) to provide the ship design and equipment package, which includes the ULSTEIN COM navigation bridge system, ULSTEIN IAS (integrated automation system), and ULSTEIN POWER. Ulstein also supervised the construction. The ship’s interior design was managed by Florida-based Tomas Tillberg Design International, a firm specializing in passenger vessel interiors. The ship’s design features Ulstein's patented X-BOW for improved fuel efficiency and enhanced stability in rough seas. The vessel complies with the 2009 SOLAS "Virtual Anchorage" and "Safe Return to Port" (SRtP) regulations, implemented via Dynamic Positioning (automated position-holding system) and Zero Speed Stabilizers (roll-reduction system).

CMIH also signed a contract with Finnish company IS Makinen Inc to prefabricate cabins, wet units, and public areas. To support this, Makinen established a cabin assembly plant and interior outfitting workshop at the shipyard in China.

The shipbuilder is China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI), a CMIH subsidiary with a shipyard near Shanghai.

Construction of the vessel officially began with the steel-cutting ceremony on December 15, 2023, at Jiangsu FRP Shipyard (Haimen Base, China), attended by Xianfu Hu (CMIH General Manager) and Niels-Erik Lund (CEO of SunStone Maritime Group).

Physical assembly began with the keel-laying ceremony on May 30, 2024, and the ship was launched (floated out from drydock) on November 29.

Sea trials in the South China Sea (off the coast of Hainan) were conducted from June 26 to July 2, 2025.

The ship is powered by four Wartsila-20 diesel engines—two 6-cylinder and two 8-cylinder units—running on HFO (heavy fuel oil). The 6-cylinder engines are equipped with Wartsila-NOR (exhaust gas cleaning systems with NOx-reducing technology). The engine supply contract was signed in November 2017.

The diesel-electric (twin-screw) propulsion system was designed by Brunvoll Volda AS (Volda, Norway), a specialist in marine propulsion and maneuvering systems. For the ULSTEIN CX103 project, Brunvoll partnered with DMC (Damen Marine Components, based in Hardinxveld-Giessendam, Netherlands) to supply two Van der Velden ATLANTIC rudders and two Van der Velden COMMANDER steering gear systems.