The ‘Ocean Victory’ (CruiseMapper), an Ulstein designed expedition cruise vessel featuring the iconic X-BOW®, has been successfully delivered from the CMHI Haimen yard, China, on 12 October 2021.

The ‘Ocean Victory’ is one of six cruise vessels being constructed for SunStone Ships. All have been based on the CX103 design by Ulstein Design & Solutions. The ‘Ocean Victory’ will be operated by Victory Cruise Lines for the summer season and Albatros Expeditions for the winter season.

After the sea trial of the ‘Ocean Victory’, Albatros Expeditions announced record-low emissions per passenger.

Anticipating the Antarctica season

The President at Albatros Expeditions, Hans Lagerweij, has followed the construction progress closely, and he is looking forward to the Antarctica season.

“Our first sailing is on the 26th of November, a fully sold-out one looking at a sun-eclipse between Antarctica and South Georgia. I expect our guests to be thrilled by the comfort and facilities, while at the same time still having the cosiness and compactness of the small expedition cruise vessels that started our industry. The ship is easy to find your way around, and it will be an excellent place to make new international friends. Finally, I am expecting our guests to be extremely happy about the performance and stability of the X-BOW on the Drake passage, a challenge we have to cross on the way to Antarctica!”

Developing the vessels for SunStone Ships

The designers in Ulstein Design & Solutions appreciate the feedback:

“We have developed a vessel where the hull has been optimised for low fuel consumption with CFD (computational fluid dynamics) analysis. In addition, we have implemented the ULSTEIN X-BOW hull line design, a solution firstly introduced to the offshore segment and only recently to the cruise industry. In addition to fuel savings, the X-BOW softens the movements in head seas, reducing slamming and vibrations, and increases the comfort and rest for passengers and crews,” comments Lead Naval Architect Torill Muren, who has been first-hand in experiencing the movements across the Drake Passage. Muren was an invitee on the ‘Greg Mortimer’s Antarctica inaugural trip, the first of the SunStone Ships vessels to be delivered.

“All the vessels in the SunStone INFINITY series have Tier III engines with SCR catalysts to reduce emissions. They run on low sulphur Marine Gas Oil (MGO), have heat recovery systems and LED lights. In addition, comes the wastewater treatment and management system that cleans the wastewater before discharging it.

These ships have zero-speed stabilizers and dynamic positioning and are built to Polar Code Category B, with Polar Class 6 (Ice Class 1A on machinery). All the vessels are customised versions of the ULSTEIN CX103 designs.

Watch below testimonial from the first Drake Passage crossing

The SunStone expedition vessels

“We decided to partner up with Ulstein due to their hull and the technical design, as well as their site team in China to supervise the production,” said Niels-Erik Lund, President/CEO SunStone Ships when announcing the first vessel in 2017. He stated: “It was of utmost importance that we developed an expedition cruise vessel of high quality and with proven design and technology. Ulstein has designed more than 105 vessels with the X-BOW design. These hulls have been developed for rough weather, high comfort and great fuel efficiency.”

Three of the vessels in the INFINITY series have now been delivered. The remaining are in various phases of the construction: one is under harbour acceptance test (HAT), one is scheduled for launch and one is in the erection workshop. Harbour acceptance test is the sum of work associated with pre-commissioning, commissioning and integration testing performed at the harbour site or shipyard before sail-out to the offshore site.