Cruise & Ferry Review - Autumn/Winter 2020

6 9 Ocean Victory was launched by China Merchant Heavy Industries in March October. Though shipyards have seen disruption to their operations during the pandemic, shipbuilder China Merchant Heavy Industries has been able to keep construction on most of the newbuilds progressing according to schedule. “We’re pleased that construction is continuing on the new ships,” says Lund. “The shipyard has obtained visas for our supervising team to allow them to be at the shipyard, and the ships are progressing as planned. An agreement between all parties was made to slightly delay Ocean Victory, but the ship has been launched and is in the water. Ocean Explorer will be launched in August 2020, while the keel laying has taken place for Sylvia Earle.” Lund is confident that the expedition market can rebound from the current crisis, taking advantage of the relatively large amount of space offered by a small ship to provide a safe environment for passengers following the pandemic. “I think that small ships are going to be in a better position compared to the larger ships,” he says. “We have more space onboard for each passenger to safely distance themselves from each other. The recirculation of air from within the ship has been identified as a cause of the spread of the virus onboard, but our HVAC systems take in fresh, clean air from the outside. And, like the rest of the cruise industry, we’re introducing a number of new safety measures that will be implemented when we begin sailing again, including temperature detection and face recognition software.” C&F