Spread the love

Named after world renowned oceanographer and marine conservationist, Dr. Sylvia Earle, the Sylvia Earle features the cutting-edge Ulstein X-BOW®, a core design element that’s essential to the speed, agility and impressive fuel efficiency of the ships in the Aurora Expeditions fleet.

CEO Monique Ponfoort says: “Exploring the natural world is at the heart of what we do and therefore we have brought elements of nature into the interior design of the Sylvia Earle. Ensuring passengers completely immerse themselves in the destination is of paramount importance to Aurora Expeditions. The goal for us has always been to create lifelong ambassadors for the protection of the wilderness areas they travel to, and education and conservation are integral to our DNA, and this design is reflective of that.”

Tomas Tillberg, Managing Partner of Tomas Tillberg Design and his team have led the design of the Sylvia Earle, as they did with the Greg Mortimer.

“The close collaboration with Aurora Expeditions on the designs of the Sylvia Earle has resulted in a design that is not only visually appealing, but also eco-friendly as we have chosen materials that are considered environmentally sustainable as much as possible. The design also emphasises the importance of a casual elegant comfort, that will really make guests feel at home.”

Victoria Primrose, Head of Marketing at Aurora Expeditions comments “We deliberately chose a simple, natural colour palette, taking inspiration from the remote and pure natural areas that we travel to. We have also integrated new beautiful spaces on board such as the Sylvia Earle Science Centre, with input from Dr. Sylvia Earle, to come up with the perfect space to run our onboard citizen science programs.

The Sylvia Earle will be the second in the fleet to sail with the patented ULSTEIN X-BOW®, whose inverted bow design, in combination with Rolls-Royce dynamic stabilisers, offers unrivalled stability and comfort1 on ocean crossings. The Ulstein X-BOW® on the Sylvia Earle is predominately glass, offering extraordinary views to the front of the ship. In polar regions, this means that passengers will be able to appreciate the majesty of an iceberg immediately as it appears on the horizon. It will also feature an outdoor swimming pool, heated by repurposing engine heat, which will be a welcome addition in warmer regions.

The ship will visit many new destinations within the Aurora Expeditions program, including Alaska, Baja California, the Russian Far East, Raja Ampat and West Papua. Many of the itineraries also visit Mission Blue Hope Spots including The Gulf of California, the Coral Triangle, and Misool Marine Reserve.

*Tier 3 compared to the older Tier 1 engines.

1Aurora Expeditions does not claim that this will prevent or cure motion sickness or seasickness.