Lindblad Expeditions is currently building a new polar expedition ship. Scheduled for delivery in 2021, the polar cruise vessel (NatGeo Resolution) will join the other new Lindblad ships - National Geographic Quest (July 2017), National Geographic Venture (December 2018), and National Geographic Endurance (January 2020).
Lindblad announced it is expanding capacity in order to respond to increasing demand for expedition cruises, both due to market expansion and investment in cruise line’s sales and marketing infrastructure.
The newbuild will be the 4th polar ship in Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic fleet, joining National Geographic Explorer and National Geographic Orion, currently in operation, as well as National Geographic Endurance.
The new expedition ship is the latest expansion in expedition cruising market. Luxury operator Scenic Cruises has a pair of new “discovery yacht” expedition vessel on tap: Scenic Eclipse (launching January 2019) and Scenic Eclipse 2 (2020). Luxury line Seabourn announced plans for two of its own expedition ships (June 2021 and May 2022), while in 2018 Silversea celebrated the10th anniversary of Silversea Expeditions brand. Hapag-Lloyd is launching 3 new expedition ships over the next years, and smaller lines, such as Ponant and Quark Expeditions, are also adding new vessels.