December 22 (SeeNews) - Croatian shipbuilding company Brodosplit said it will hand over a 106 million euro ($130 million) Polar Class 6 expedition vessel to US company Quark Expeditions in the first half February.
The ship, to be named Ultramarine, set sail for her maiden voyage on Friday to be docked at the Viktor Lenac shipyard in Rijeka, Bordosplit said in a statement last week.
After dry-docking, Ultramarine will return to Brodosplit's base in Split for test runs and for the installation of final equipment before the expected handover in February.
Ultramarine is 128 metres long and 21.5 metres wide, with 103 cabins accommodating 200 passengers and 140 crew members.
Its construction was financed by a credit from Croatia's development bank HBOR, supported by a government guarantee issued in May 2018.
In May 2019, Brodosplit delivered the first Polar Class 6 cruise ship it had built for Netherlands-based Oceanwide Expeditions, named Hondius, and signed a deal for the construction of a sister vessel for the same client, to be named Janssonius.
The Split-based company designs and builds ships including tankers, product/chemical/bulk carriers, container vessels, passenger vessels, car passenger ferries and more. Its clients include ship-owners and companies from Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, England, Greece, Norway, Russia, India, Mexico and the United States, among others.
Brodosplit is part of Croatian industrial group DIV, which announced the acquisition of Norwegian shipyard Kleven Verft in January, saying that Kleven and Brodosplit will be able to create positive synergies in all segments, including the design and construction of hulls and equipment, which will lead to lower construction and financing costs, and will raise profitability.
($=0.8167 euro)