By
Alex Smith |
Hapag-Lloyd Cruises held the naming ceremony for its new Hanseatic inspiration in the port of Hamburg, Germany on 11 October 2019.
Godmother Laura Dekker, the youngest person to ever circumnavigate the globe, broke the traditional champagne bottle across the ship’s hull from a pontoon floating in the River Elbe. Science journalist Ranga Yogeshwar hosted the event.
“Naming Hanseatic inspiration against the wonderful night-time backdrop of the port of Hamburg was a very special moment for me,” said Dekker. “I’m sure that this expedition ship will more than live up to her name and take her guests on many inspiring cruises to show them the wonders of nature up close.”
Dekker was joined on the water by around 230 invited guests, who watched the ceremony from several rubber boats and launches. A 3D multimedia show was then projected by 11 high-powered projectors onto the side of Hanseatic inspiration, which is 140 metres wide and 22 metres high, taking guests on a virtual cruise to the remote destinations the ship will visit, from the Arctic to the Amazon.
The 3D mapping was designed specially for the event and was accompanied by music from Oonagh, a German pop star and two-time Echo award winner, and Terje Isungset, a Norwegian musician known for designing and playing instruments made from ice.
“Today’s naming ceremony has given our guests a taste of the expedition cruises which they can experience on the Hanseatic inspiration from now on,” said Karl Pojer, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. “The second ship in our new expedition class is a further milestone in our company’s history.”
Hanseatic inspiration will leave Hamburg on 12 October, arriving in Antwerp, Netherlands on 14 October. The ship will set out on her maiden voyage on the same day, a 15-day cruise to Tenerife, Spain, including stops at Lisbon, Portugal and Casablanca, Morocco.
Around 175 crew members will look after 230 guests onboard the new ship, although there will only be 199 guests on Antarctic Cruises and circumnavigations of Spitsbergen in Svalbard, Norway.
Hanseatic inspiration is the second of the three ships in the new expedition class being financed by the TUI group, following Hanseatic nature into service. The entire Hapag-Lloyd Cruises fleet will stop using heavy fuel oil in July 2020, instead using low-pollutant marine gas oil fuel on all routes.