72 St Helena has spent decades sailing the Antarctic seas since its launch in 1989 INTERVIEW Purpose over polish Greg Carter talks with Alex Smith about how new expedition cruise line Terra Nova Expedition is giving a second life to an Antarctic stalwart One of the last Royal Mail Ships ever built is preparing for a new stage in its career. Constructed in the UK in 1989, St Helena served for decades as the main supply link to the South Atlantic island of Saint Helena from Cape Town in South Africa, carrying both passengers and cargo until it retired from government service in 2018. The ship was then repurposed as the floating base for the Extreme E electric racing series. As part of this conversion, it received a range of sustainability upgrades, including hybrid-ready propulsion systems and onboard emissions monitoring technology. These updates modernised the ship’s operations – preparing it for the next chapter of its journey. Terra Nova Expeditions, a company launched in 2025 by Greg Carter, will begin using St Helena for Antarctic itineraries under a long-term charter from 2026. Carter, who previously co-founded the polar travel operator Chimu Adventures, has positioned the ship as central to Terra Nova’s strategy of offering small-scale, environmentally responsible voyages. “St Helena represents the kind of thinking we admire: reuse over replace, purpose over polish,” Carter said. “It’s a rare breed – a vessel capable of reaching the world’s most remote places while carrying both guests and gear with selfsufficiency and grace. With its onboard cranes, robust build and unique mix of cargo and passenger capabilities, the ship is perfectly suited to the expeditionary model we believe in.” To prepare the vessel for commercial service in Antarctica, Terra Nova is carrying out a refit. Passenger accommodations and public areas are being upgraded, while motion-reduction technologies are being installed. Among these are retractable stabilisers to improve guest comfort and the See-LEVEL virtual reality system, a headset-based tool that seeks to mitigate
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