A steel cutting ceremony was held for the CX103 expedition cruise design, the ‘Sylvia Earle’, on 16 March 2020 at the CMHI Haimen yard, China. She has been designed by Ulstein Design & Solutions AS for SunStone Ships.
The Sylvia Earle is the sister vessel of the Greg Mortimer, which was delivered in September 2019. Operator for both vessels is the Australian cruise company Aurora Expeditions.
The Sylvia Earle is vessel number 2 in SunStone's INFINITY series, and the fourth of the Ulstein designed exploration cruise vessels under construction at this yard.
Designed with the X-BOW® hull, the vessel will provide the best possible comfort for passengers in rough head seas, as well as being fuel efficient.
The total number of walk-to-work (w2w) vessel designs and redesigns by Ulstein now count 22, of which 14 are currently in operation. In average, these vessels perform repair and maintenance on more than 5,000 turbines – every year!
That makes a stunning 95,000+ gangway connections!
Three of Ulstein's designs are among the Work Boat World Awards 2024 winners. Tamhae 3 clinched the 'Best Large Research Vessel' award, Olympic Boreas was named 'Best CSOV', and JSD 6000 took home the 'Best Derrick Layer' accolade from Baird Maritime/Work Boat World. These awards celebrate the best vessels in their categories, judged on design, build quality, and functionality.
The collaboration between thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (tkMS) and Ulstein is a strategic boost for the Norwegian maritime industry, tkMS being one of four remaining contenders in a major maritime project. This is the only European alternative that includes building in Norway.
Lars Ståle Skoge
Commercial Director