By
Alex Smith |
Hapag-Lloyd Cruises has taken delivery of its new expedition vessel, Hanseatic spirit, from shipbuilder Vard.
Hanseatic spirit is the final ship in Hapag-Lloyd’s Expedition class, following her sister ships Hanseatic nature and Hanseatic inspiration into the fleet. The 138-metre-long vessel will now sail from Vard’s Langsten shipyard in Norway to Hamburg in Germany ahead of her maiden voyage at the end of August.
“We are proud to welcome the Hanseatic spirit as the newest member of the fleet,” said Julian Pftzner, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. “I am delighted that we have been able to work successfully with the Vard shipyard in a challenging period to complete this build and we can now showcase a state-of-the-art expedition fleet with three small and manoeuvrable five-star expedition ships.”
Like its sister ships, Hanseatic spirit can accommodate 230 guests. Construction of the ship began at Vard Tulcea shipyard in Romania before she was towed to Vard Langsten at the end of 2020 for further outfitting and testing.
“I’m really impressed with all co-workers at Vard and Fincantieri, the team from Hapag-Lloyd Cruises and all involved in this project,” said Attilio Dapelo, general manager for the cruise business unit at Vard. “We’ve been faced with tremendous additional pressure due to Covid-19. Despite all this, thanks to an excellent and solution-oriented cooperation, we have succeeded to get Hanseatic spirit finalised and delivered. It is a beautiful vessel which earns its name, ‘Spirit’.”