Cruise & Ferry Review - Spring/Summer 2021

7 3 most remote locations in the world. The ships will be rated Ice-Class 1A and Polar Class 6, enabling them to operate in both new and one-year-old ice conditions. They will also feature the Rolls-Royce Aquarius 100 SAR fin stabilisers, which help to reduce rolling motions. SunStone has also looked to ensure that the vessels are prepared for any eventuality by investing in additional safety features. “The vessels are all built to Safe Return to Port (SRtP) requirements, even though this is not a prerequisite at their size,” says Lund. “SRtP basically requires that there are redundancies built in for all main technical aspects of a ship, so that in the event of a casualty, the ship can still perform. This is a very costly feature; however, as the vessels operate in very remote areas of the world, this optional safety element was extremely important.” The third and fourth vessels in the series, Ocean Victory and Ocean Explorer, have recently completed sea trials in the South China Sea, and are scheduled to be delivered in April 2021. They will be followed by Sylvia Earle later this year. “China Merchant Heavy Industry has been very helpful with securing visas for both the supervision team and the crew and has also been able to extend the normal maximum visa validity beyond three months,” says Lund. “A number of crew members are therefore already in place for the two vessels scheduled for delivery in April, though the number must increase within the next few months to ensure that they can redeploy out of China on a timely basis.” CFR The Infinity-class are designed to operate in the most remote locations in the world “ The vessels are all built to Safe Return to Port requirements”