MV Plancius

The 1976-built MV Plancius cruise ship (formerly named "HNLMS Tydeman") is an ice-strengthened expedition vessel part of the Oceanwide Expeditions fleet - together with Janssonius (2022), Hondius (2019), Ortelius (1989) and the polar sailing ships Noorderlicht (1991) and Rembrandt van Rijn (1994).

The vessel (IMO number 7432044) is currently Holland-flagged (MMSI 246573000) and registered in Rotterdam.

The vessel was converted from an oceanographic research vessel that served the Royal Netherlands Navy between November 10, 1976, and June 3, 2004. Plancius joined/was acquired by Oceanwide Expeditions in 2009.

Like all the other fleetmates, Plancius is equipped with rigid-hulled Zodiacs (motorized inflatable boats) used for landings (ship-to-shore passenger transportation) and coastal cruising in remote areas.

During its Dutch Royal Navy service, approx 30% of the vessel's operational time was used by various non-military research organizations (universities and institutes). At the time, the smaller ships HNLMS Blommendal and HNLMS Buyskes, along with HNLMS Tydeman formed the so-called "white fleet" of the Navy's Hydrographic Service. From 2003, this fleet was replaced by HNLMS Snellius and from 2004 - by HNLMS Luymes.

As Tydeman, the ship was named after the hydrographer of Siboga Expedition (Dutch East Indies) Gustaaf Frederik Tydeman (1899–1900) and was the second ship to bear this name. HNLMS Tydeman was designed for worldwide deep-sea research, but in her last years of naval service, the tasks were limited to hydrographic surveying in Europe's Baltic Sea and North Sea. When decommissioned, HNLMS Tydeman was sold to the Nigerian Navy, but they didn't pay.

In January 2007, the Vlissingen Holland-based company Oceanwide Expeditions acquired the vessel for EUR 0,9 million. In 2008, the ship was extensively drydock refurbished (interior and machinery updates) at Reimerswaal shipyard in Hansweert Holland.

On November 14, 2009, Tydeman was renamed "MV Plancius" - honoring the Dutch cartographer Petrus Plancius (1552–1622).

During the ship's drydock refurbishment in 2023 June (at Hansweert's Reimerswaal yard) the dining room (on Deck 3) was completely reconstructed (rebuilt and refurnished). The new venue serves as both the ship's main restaurant and a lecture room.

MV Plancius can accommodate up to 116 passengers in 53 staterooms. The crew of 45 includes 19 hotel staff (1 steward-barman, 1 hotel manager, 6 chefs, 11 stewards/cabin cleaners), 17 nautical crew, 7 expedition staff (6 guides-lecturers, 1 expedition leader) and 1 doctor.

The boat has 7 decks, of which 5 are passenger-accessible and with cabins (53 total staterooms).

History - construction and ownership

Specializing in passenger shipping and navigation in icy waters, with the newbuilds Janssonius and Hondius the Vlissingen Netherlands-based company Oceanwide Expeditions grew not only as fleet/capacity but also as brand popularity and trust.

The 1993-founded Oceanwide Expeditions (shipowner) is one of the industry's small cruise lines offering regularly-scheduled and flexible polar cruise tours providing its customers with the opportunity to contact with polar regions' wildlife, unique landscapes, nautically important polar regions and historical sites. Oceanwide Expeditions has year-round planned itineraries - during summer (April through September) in the Arctic and during winter (October through March) in Antarctica. Most Oceanwide-organized tours are in sea-only accessible areas, usually without any land/port infrastructure. In most of these locations, the cruise ship anchors near the coast and all passengers are tendered (via Zodiac Milpro boats) to the landing sites. Each boat is crewed and guided by a dedicated expedition team.

Oceanwide Expeditions supports renowned organizations dedicated to wildlife preservation and sustainable environmental development projects in Earth's polar regions. Among these organizations are AECO (Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators - cruise line organization working mainly in Europe's Arctic / Iceland, Greenland, and Svalbard Norway), IAATO (International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators, 1991-founded association of 100+ members/companies) and BirdLife International (1922-founded global organizations dedicated to the conservation of birds and their habitats).

Itineraries

Oceanwide Expeditions' Plancius itinerary program is based on polar voyages. From homeport Longyearbyen (Spitsbergen Island Norway) are visited destinations in Svalbard (Arctic Norway). The summer-scheduled Arctic voyages also visit destinations in Iceland and Greenland.

The ship's Antarctic schedule (winter program) lists roundtrips from homeport Ushuaia Argentina visiting destinations on the Antarctic Peninsula, as well as the British overseas territories Falkland Islands and South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands.