Page 13 - Expedition

EXPEDITION MARKET
SUNSTONE
10 Ships, Big Plans
Niels-Erik Lund, president and CEO
As of March, the 160-guest Greg Mortimer was in the
water in China, with all steel work done and interior fabrica-
tion in full swing ahead of her service entry later this year in at China Merchant’s Heavy Industry Jiangsu. Most machinery
Antarctica on a long-term charter agreement for Aurora Ex-
peditions.
The ship is one of up to 10 SunStone Ships is building in
China and will charter out to various clients.
“At this time we have signed final shipbuilding contracts
for the first five (ships),” said Niels-Erik Lund, president and 130 guests up to 186, with various public area and restaurant
CEO. “Charter agreements have been signed on two addi-
tional ships and we are working on the shipbuilding contracts.
Thereafter, there are three options remaining.”
The Greg Mortimer, the first SunStone newbuild, was launched
in March in China.
90 Cruise Industry News: 2019 Expedition Market Report
Knowing the price and charter rate of
the Infinity-class vessels, compared
to many of the other newbuildings, we
believe that from both a capital cost and
an operating cost point of view, being
fuel, crew, insurance costs, etc., these
ships will be very efficient.”
SunStone has set up another company in China, SunStone
Marine Advisors, which is managing the newbuilding project
and technical parts are being sourced in Europe.
Using an innovative newbuild model, SunStone is not only
building cruise ships in China before anyone else, but has
configurable vessels.
The ships can be configured for each client, going from
options. The ships can carry up to 200 guests with a third and
fourth passenger in select staterooms.
“There are also different public spaces both in size and
rooms,” said Lund. “One ship has one restaurant and there
can be up to four restaurants on another. There are also dif-
ferent lounge configurations, bars, spas, libraries and more.
On the exterior some vessels are more conducive to warm-
water, having a pool, a pool bar and jacuzzis, where other
ships do not have these facilities and are more geared toward
cold-water operation. There are some ships with an atrium
configuration in the entrance and some that have a lounge on
two levels with an atrium effect.”
The first five vessels are spoken for on 15-year charter
deals, according to Lund.
“Some ships are split between seasons with one winter and
one summer charterer,” he said.
Using the X-BOW design, the ships will also offer a smooth
ride in harsh waters, able to better take on rough seas.
SunStone, which owns a number of classic expedition ships,
is now driving the market by adding at least five new vessels.
“I believe we should be concerned about the capacity growth
as I think the capacity will grow a little faster than demand,