A BOUNDLESS SENSE OF ADVENTURE
Founder and Chairman Niels-Erik Lund outlined recent events and provided an overview of the fleet, in conversation with Phil Nicholls.
SunStone Maritime Group A/S is not a cruise company, but a provider of tonnage to cruise companies, tour operators and travel companies around the world. Developers of the award-winning Infinity class of vessels, SunStone is looking to the future with a fresh fleet.
“We have been working on our new line of ships for more than a year,” explained Founder and Chairman Niels-Erik Lund. “The Boundless series has all the same safety and comfort features as our Infinity class, only they’re a little bit bigger.”
With a history stretching back to 1990, recent events brought SunStone both the biggest positive and greatest negative. The Covid pandemic meant 18 months without cruise operations, delivering low income levels. This was balanced out by receipt of five ships in the Infinity series.
“Delivery of the ships was delayed,” said Mr Lund, “but in 2022 we were handed Ocean Odyssey and Sylvia Earle, with Ocean Albatros coming in 2023. So, that's all going well, and all ships are chartered out. We are very pleased with the progress.”
Expedition cruises
SunStone remains the largest operator of expedition cruise ships in the world, deploying a fleet of 12 vessels. Typically, these carry 100-200 passengers on destination cruises to explore remote locations around the world. Popular voyages include polar cruises or less-frequented islands in the Pacific Ocean.
The stars of the SunStone fleet are the Infinity class vessels with an impressive range of safety features developed by the company in-house. “We wanted to create a small expedition ship,” Mr Lund explained, “with all the safety and comfort features
With decades of expertise and hands-on experience, SunStone Maritime Group A/S operates the world’s largest fleet of expedition vessels available on charter.
Spotlight on M/V Ocean Odyssey
Infinity class vessel five, delivered October 2022. Built by China Merchant Heavy Industries in Haimen, China.
Tonnage: GT 8500
Length: (LOA) 104.4m Breadth: 18.4m
Draft: 5.1m
Speed: 15.5kn
Capacity: 160 passengers / 80 cabins
Registry: Nassau, Bahamas
Now sailing on long-term, year-round charter with Vantage Deluxe World Travel.
possible. So, as an example, we worked to ensure compliance with the SOLAS Safe Return to Port regulations, which is not a requirement for these ships.
“As our ships operate in remote areas, from a safety point of view, they need duplicate engine rooms, bridges and galleys. Whatever happens, these ships can bring the passengers safely back to the port. Maybe not at the usual speed, maybe not with a seven-course dinner. But we can still cook and serve food, we have engines running and vital systems working.”
Additional features include the zero speed stabilisers that keep a vessel stable, even when not moving. The dynamic positioning system ensures an Infinity vessel always sits in the water exactly as the captain requires, at the precise position, regardless of sea conditions and without dropping anchor. Most distinctive, however, is the X-BOW which gives the Infinity ships such a striking silhouette. Copied from offshore work boats, the X-BOW greatly enhances the stability of the Infinity vessels and translates into a significantly more comfortable voyage for passengers, as well as providing greater fuel efficiency.
Cruise partners
While SunStone designed the specifications of the Infinity class ships, the company worked closely with its charterers on the interiors of the vessels. “They've been involved in how many cabins, or the size of a cabin,” said Mr Lund. “The charterers can choose how many restaurants, bars or lounges on a ship, or pick colour schemes and the type of furniture.
“From that point of view, they have been very much involved. But from the safety and comfort point of view? No, that's our expertise.”
SunStone deployed its expertise as naval architect when choosing the exact equipment to be fitted in its vessels. Everything from the main engines to the propellers, generators and thrusters were chosen by the SunStone team to ensure the finished ships exactly meet the company’s demanding requirements.
As ships are built as a series, SunStone easily establishes close relationships with suppliers. Uniformity across a series allows SunStone to secure better value from suppliers. Furthermore, this uniformity also means that crew trained on one Infinity ship can easily work on any other vessel in the fleet, as the equipment is duplicated across the series.
Gold-standard sustainability
SunStone’s tight control on the equipment aboard the fleet also allows the company to apply the same exacting standards to its environmental impact. The company installs the least-polluting equipment possible in its ships. A modern fuel like LNG is not suitable for expedition cruises, where frequent refuelling depots are simply not available.
Yet SunStone deploys the cleanest engines and fuels it can find, while still allowing the ships to fulfil their role as expedition cruises. The Infinity class ships are fuel-prepared, ready to take advantage of new fuels as they reach the market.
The sustainability of the SunStone fleet is recognised by the Magellan Awards organised by Travel Weekly magazine. In 2021, Albatros Travel won the gold medal for Overall-EcoFriendly “Green” Cruise Ship with the Infinity ship Ocean Victory. This feat was repeated for SunStone in 2022, when Aurora Expeditions also won the gold medal for Overall-EcoFriendly “Sustainable” Cruise Ship with the Infinity ship Greg Mortimer.
A Boundless future
The team at SunStone is not complacent and continues to build the company. One project is the new company office in Madeira. The fleet is slowly being moved to the Madeira flag and the team at this office is steadily growing to accommodate the new arrivals. The switch to this EU-based flag should not affect SunStone’s operations but makes clear the fleet’s continued performance within these tighter rules and regulations.
However, the main development of the company revolves around the new Boundless series of ships – expanding on the
Infinity series. The Boundless vessels will be fitted with all the safety features characteristic of SunStone ships, although there will be some differences.
“Instead of 104 metres, they're going to be 125 metres long,” explained Mr Lund. “The Boundless ships will be wider and with a capacity between 100 to 130 cabins. So, 200 to 260 passengers.”
SunStone will sign a framework agreement for up to ten Boundless ships, with four orders in the initial wave. “We expect that the first ship would arrive in 2025,” Mr Lund continued, “and then two ships per year after that.
“Going forward, we plan to evolve the fleet further: by 2030, we will phase out all our older vessels. Then our strategy is to launch a new series of ships every five years.”
Reflecting on more than 50 years in the shipping industry, Mr Lund remained as enthusiastic as ever about SunStone and its potential for growth: “I'm so happy to see my two sons getting into the business, Carsten and his younger brother Christian. The shipping industry has been my entire life and I still love it. This is not really a job: it's a hobby.” n
