Cruise and Ferry Review - Summer/Spring 2020

1 1 0 Hanseatic Inspiration has been designed to Polar Code 6 standards so she can operate safely in places like Antarctica INTERV IEW Inspiring wonder and environmental understanding Hapag-Lloyd Cruises has a wealth of experience and knowledge when it comes to expedition sailing. Susan Parker asks company executives how this helped when building the new Hanseatic-class ships O fficially inaugurated into Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ (HLC) fleet in October 2019, Hanseatic Inspiration is one of three new expedition cruise ships built to the highest ice-class rating (Polar Code 6). Hanseatic Inspiration, which is targeted at the international market, joins Hanseatic Nature, which debuted for the German market in May 2019. Hanseatic Spirit, also designed for the German market, will start service in May 2021. HLC plans to sail these vessels to remote destinations, such as the McMurdo station, which is located south of Antarctica and is planned as a calling point on a 32-day, 6,800-nautical-mile roundtrip from Ushuaia, Argentina. As these are likely to be the most extreme conditions the ships will sail in, HLC used this as a design point for the Hanseatic-class vessels. HLC, which was the first cruise operator to sail the Northwest Passage, is adept at satisfying the Polar Ship Certificate, which became mandatory from January 2018. In fact, its expedition ship Bremen was one of the first to receive the certificate after two years of preparation and HLC has been instrumental in the Polar Code’s evolution. “Together with Hurtigruten’s and Ponant’s new vessels, ours are the first ships to be certified,” says Henning Brauer, former head of newbuilds at Photos: Hapag-Lloyd Cruises