Carnival Corporation's ultra-premium brand Seabourn marked a construction milestone with the launch of its newest expedition ship Seabourn Venture at the T. Mariotti shipyard in Genoa Italy.
The launch ceremony is a maritime tradition that calls for a “madrina” to preside over the events. Serving in this role was Seabourn’s senior manager of Expedition staffing, Jarda Versloot-West, who first joined the company nearly a decade ago for the maiden voyage to Antarctica. Versloot-West was joined by T. Mariotti Shipyard Managing Director Marco Ghiglione and Seabourn President Josh Leibowitz.
During the ceremony, a bottle of Champagne broke against the hull of Seabourn Venture to commemorate the milestone. The vessel will now move from her dry dock to the outfitting dock at the shipyard, where she will undergo final construction until delivery.
A traditional coin ceremony for the vessel was held on July 13, 2021, where Versloot-West welded a commemorative coin to the structure.
The luxury boat will depart on her Maiden Voyage from London-Greenwich (England UK) on April 10, 2022. The newbuild will sail 2 new itineraries around the UK, including the inaugural cruise from London, and those sailings will go on sale on August 19.
A second yet-unnamed sister expedition ship is also currently under construction at T. Mariotti with delivery planned for December 2022. Both ships are designed with PC6 hulls (Polar Class 6), modern hardware and technologies extending their global deployment and operational capabilities. Each will carry a 26-person expert expedition team, 2x custom-built submarines, 24x Zodiacs, sea kayaks.