Lindblad Expeditions and Aurora Expeditions are two of the top ten winners of best adventure cruise lines in 2021.

In October 2019, the first ULSTEIN X-BOW® polar expedition cruise vessel, 'Greg Mortimer', left Ushuaia for her inaugural voyage. She was heading for the dreaded Drake Passage to reach Antarctica. Among those on board was Peter Szyszka, a diving instructor who “gets seasick just by looking at water.”

Recently introduced to the cruise market, the 'Greg Mortimer' has called upon much attention among cruise media and cruise travellers. While the X-BOW® shape is well known in the offshore market, this is the first time it has been implemented in a cruise ship.

The first X-BOW® cruise vessel, Greg Mortimer, set off for her first Antarctica expedition and crossed the notorious Drake Passage early November. The X-BOW® feature reduces the slamming in head seas. This was proven firstly on her transit from China to Argentina, when she entered 10m high waves and strong winds.

On 6 September, the ‘Greg Mortimer’ was named and delivered in a ceremony on the CMHI Haimen base. This is the first expedition cruise vessel in SunStone’s INFINITY series. The vessels have been designed by Ulstein Design & Solutions together with the ship’s owner and their client, Aurora Expeditions.

The SunStone crew is undergoing the final preparations to start sailing the polar cruise vessel, ‘Greg Mortimer’. As a part of this, they have been trained in the use of Ulstein’s integrated automation system (IAS), power management system (PMS) and Blue Box based on the X-CONNECT® system architecture.

The launching ceremony of the ‘Greg Mortimer’, the first polar expedition cruise vessel in SunStone Ships’ INFINITY series, was held in the morning of 12 March at the CMHI yard, China. The steel cutting ceremony of ship number three in the series was also arranged this morning.

On 12 June 2018 at 10.18 a.m., the keel laying ceremony of the 'Greg Mortimer' expedition cruise vessel for SunStone Ships was held at CMHI, China.

On 16 March 2018, the steel cutting ceremony of SunStone Ships' ULSTEIN X-BOW expedition cruise ship took place in the Haimen base of CMHI (China Merchants Heavy Industry).

Ulstein Design & Solutions AS has been awarded a very important contract by China Merchants Group (CMG), China, who will be constructing an expedition cruise vessel for owner SunStone Ships. The contract includes the design and equipment package for one and options for additional nine vessels.