AURORA Expeditions is investigating the option of bringing a ship to Australia in between polar seasons, MD Robert Halfpenny has told CW. “That is an option being looked at now,” he confirmed, adding that Macquarie Island and even Papua New Guinea and Japan were on the line’s radar. Bringing a...
AURORA Expeditions is investigating the option of bringing a ship to Australia in between polar seasons, MD Robert Halfpenny has told CW.
“That is an option being looked at now,” he confirmed, adding that Macquarie Island and even Papua New Guinea and Japan were on the line’s radar.
Bringing a ship to Australia “would be huge”, Halfpenny explained, given Aurora is an Australian company with Australian founders.
“That, I think, would be really good for us, it would carry a lot of pride.”
Halfpenny said the new destinations would be in next year’s brochure release for the 2022/23 season, but noted there was a variable involved – the company has been approached by some businesses who wanted to charter Aurora’s ship over a couple of months.
The cruise line is looking at a number of other new destinations, including the Northeast and Northwest Passage, Russia and Alaska.
“Where we can explore a region like that in-depth for anywhere between nine to 18 days is basically our sweet spot,” Halfpenny explained.
“The ships weren’t just built for polar exploration, they have balconies, hot tubs, Sylvia Earle has a pool, so they’re built for snorkelling and scuba diving in tropical areas as well,” he said.
“These ships can go anywhere.”
Aurora Expedition’s second purpose-built expedition ship, due to debut in Oct 2021, Sylvia Earle, is pictured.
