Florida-headquartered expedition cruise ship owner SunStone Ships, part of SunStone Maritime Group, has welcomed with open arms the seventh and final Infinity Class series unit, the Douglas Mawson.
As disclosed, the cruise vessel was handed over in Haimen, China, by China Merchants Heavy Industries (CMHI) on September 9. The newbuilding was named after Australian geologist and Antarctic explorer whose work is considered essential to the study of the polar regions.
Now that it has been delivered, the 104-meter-long and 18.40-meter-wide Douglas Mawson is set to go on a long-term charter with Australia’s cruise company Aurora Expeditions. It is the third ship to join Aurora Expedition’s fleet, following Greg Mortimer and Sylvia Earle .
As informed, SunStone Ships’ latest addition is the fruit born out of a collaboration between Norwegian naval architects Ulstein Design & Solutions, Swedish-American interior designers from Tomas Tillberg Design USA, as well as Finnish interior contractors from Makinen.
The vessel has reportedly been Ice Class 1A and Polar Class 6 certified, which allows it to operate in both warm and cold waters.
More importantly, as officials from SunStone Ships have explained, all of the vessels from the series have been equipped with Tier III engines with selective catalytic reduction (SCR) that enable them to slash greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
It is understood that the ships can also operate on low-sulfur marine gas oil (MGO). They also boast heat recovery systems as well as LED lights.
To remind, the production of the seventh vessel began in mid-December 2023, following the order that the company placed in February of that same year. Douglas Mawson was ultimately launched at the beginning of December 2024.
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The keel for the previous ship in the series, named the Ocean Albatros, was laid in the first month of 2022. SunStone added it to its roster in April 2023 .