''Silver Explorer'' is an expedition ship operated by

Silversea Cruises Silversea Cruises is a luxury cruise line headquartered in Monaco. Founded in 1994 by the Vlasov Group of Monaco and the Lefebvre family of Rome, it pioneered all-inclusive cruising with its first ship, ''Silver Cloud''. Since July 2020, it h ...

. The ship typically hosts cruises to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

, the South Pacific, and

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

. It is the first ship of Silversea involved in expedition cruising.

Design and construction

''Silver Explorer'' is a 1A ice-rated vessel. She carries up to 144 passengers in 72 cabins. The ship was built by the yards of Rauma-Repola, of

Rauma, Finland Rauma (; sv, Raumo) is a town and municipality of around () inhabitants on the west coast of Finland, north of Turku, and south of Pori. Its neighbouring municipalities are Eura, Eurajoki, Laitila and Pyhäranta. Granted town privileges on 1 ...

, and launched on 3 February 1989. She operated under several names before being acquired by Society Expeditions, who operated her under the names ''World Adventurer'' and ''World Discoverer''. the ship was launched service in 1994, and it was the first luxury to branch off in the expedition market in 2008 with the Silver Explorer. She was purchased by

in autumn 2007, and underwent a multimillion-pound refit at

Fincantieri Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into prov ...

. In June 2008, at a ceremony in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

attended by

Prince Albert II of Monaco Albert II – Website of the Palace of Monaco (Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre Grimaldi; born 14 March 1958) is Prince of Monaco, since 2005. Albert was born at the Prince's Palace of Monaco, and he is the second child and only son of Prince Rai ...

, she was re-christened ''Prince Albert II''. She then sailed to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to embark passengers for an inaugural cruise. ''Silver Explorer'' was refurbished in 2017, expanding its passenger capacity to 144 in 72 cabins, While on 21 April 2020, Silversea launched a new measures for the ship to offer unprecedented flexibility to the passengers. ''Prince Albert II'' was renamed ''Silver Explorer'' in late April 2011 in order to align with the fleet's other vessels which all have the word Silver in their name. Silversea launched an event ''Sell and Sail Free'' promotion, inviting also

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

travel agents in February 2020.

Service

''Silver Explorer'' operates polar adventure cruises lasting between 10 and 27 days. In the summer she cruises in the Arctic Circle and the Northeast Passage with calls at the Svalbard archipelago,

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

. During the northern hemisphere autumn and winter, she cruises off

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

and

. She is the world's first ultra-luxury cruise ship to sail to

. In 2018, the ship anchored at

Coos Bay Coos Bay is an estuary where the Coos River enters the Pacific Ocean, the estuary is approximately 12 miles long and up to two miles wide. It is the largest estuary completely within Oregon state lines. The Coos Bay watershed covers an area of abou ...

and docked in North Bend, chartered by a group of 130 golfers. In 2019, the ship was successful for crossing the

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arc ...

for the first time in Arctic pack ice, being also accompanied by a Russian icebreaker. In December 2019, the ship made a maiden voyage to

Sokcho Sokcho ( ko, 속초; ()) is a city in Gangwon Province, South Korea. It is located in the far northeast of Gangwon. The city is a major tourist hub, and a popular gateway to nearby Seoraksan national park. Sokcho is home to the few lakes: Yeong ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

as the first Silversea ship to visit the port. In January 2022, the ship was sold to the expedition cruising company Exploris. It will be transferred to Exploris in September 2023 to begin sailing in December 2023.

Incidents

In June 2019, after the ship was sailing into Bering Sea it entangled in a fishing net which caused propeller damage, forcing them way to drydock for repairs. On 15 March 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic on cruise ships Early in 2020, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the disease spread to a number of cruise ships, with the nature of such shipsincluding crowded semi-enclosed areas, increased exposure to new environments, and limited medical resourc ...

, the ship docked in

Castro, Chile Castro is a city and commune on Chiloé Island in Chile. Castro is the capital of the Chiloé Province in the Los Lagos Region. The city is located on Estero de Castro on the eastern coast of central Chiloé Island. This position provides Castro ...

, with 111 passengers and 120 crew, after an 83-year-old man fell ill and tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silver Explorer Cruise ships Expedition cruising 1989 ships Ships built in Rauma, Finland Cruise ships involved in the COVID-19 pandemic