World’s First Polar Class 6 Cruise Vessel Launched in Croatia

World’s first-registered Polar Class 6 cruise launched today in Croatia (Photo credit: Oceanwide Expeditions)

The world’s first-registered Polar Class 6 cruise vessel was successfully launched today at Brodosplit shipyard in Croatia.

Brodosplit has been building the polar expedition cruise vessel M/V Hondius for Oceanwide Expeditions, and on Saturday it was launched into the sea at the shipyard in the Dalmatian city of Split.

(Photo credit: Oceanwide Expeditions)

The polar expedition cruise ship is 107.6 m long and 17.6 m wide. It has 85 high hotel standard cabins which will be able to accommodate 196 passengers and will be powered by two engines with a total output of 4200 kW. It will be able to reach speeds of 15 knots.

Planned for launch in March 2019, Hondius is the world’s first-registered Polar Class 6 cruise vessel and features the latest green technology, meaning maximum impact for the consumer and minimal impact for Antarctica and the Arctic.

How the ship will look once the fitting is complete (Polar Expeditions Inc)

“Hondius is now in her element, the sea. She was successfully launched today at Brodosplit shipyard in Croatia in presence of Oceanwide’s shareholder and owner Wijnand van Gessel, COO Mark van der Hulst and colleagues of the ship’s operations team. She will now be berthed alongside to enter the next phase, the outfitting. We are all thrilled with how she looks and can’t wait to get her out for sea trials,” Oceanwide Expeditions said.

“Construction of passenger ships is the segment where European and Croatian shipyards can compete. This project has definitely positioned Brodosplit in polar expedition vessels market,” said Tomislav Debeljak, CEO of Brodosplit.