MV Ortelius | Arctic & Antarctic Cruise Ship

The ice-strengthened ship Ortelius is an excellent vessel for polar expedition cruises in the Arctic and Antarctica, making it possible to explore remote locations such as the Ross Sea and Franz Josef Land.

Ortelius was built in 1989 in Gdynia, Poland, was named “Marina Svetaeva” at the time, and served as a special purpose vessel for the Russian Academy of Science. The vessel is re-flagged and named Ortelius. As with Plancius, Ortelius was a Dutch / Flemish cartographer. Abraham Ortelius (1527 – 1598) published the first modern world atlas in 1570,the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum or Theatre of the World. At that time, the atlas was the most expensive book ever printed.

The vessel has the highest ice-class classification (UL1 equivalent to 1A) and is therefore very suitable for navigating in solid one-year sea ice and loose multi year pack ice. Ortelius is a great expedition vessel for 108 passengers in 52 cabins with plenty of open deck spaces and a very large bridge that is accessible to passengers. The vessel is professionally manned by 52 staff and crew, including a doctor.

Ortelius offers hotel comfort, with two restaurants, a bar/lecture room and a sauna. Our journeys are primarily developed to offer our passengers a world class exploratory wildlife program, with the aim of trying to spend as much time ashore as possible. As the number of passengers on the Ortelius is limited to approximately 108, flexibility assures maximum wildlife encounters. Ortelius carries 11 zodiacs 9 of which are in use and 2 on reserve. The zodiac engines are 60hp Yamaha.

See our cruise collection to Antarctica