The 238-foot vessel, delivered in November 2018, is the sister ship to National Geographic Quest, delivered in July 2017. Lindblad Expeditions of New York operates the U.S.-flagged, Subchapter K-compliant ships, which were designed by Seattle-based Jensen Maritime Consultants and built in Washington by Nichols Brothers Boat Builders.
National Geographic Venture has 50 cabins with accommodations for up to 100 passengers, along with a restaurant, lounge, spa and exercise room. There is storage space for 24 kayaks, eight inflatable boats suitable for tours, and eight paddleboards for passengers to explore off the ship.
“The vessel is a platform to get folks into the environment to be close to wildlife and close to the areas we explore,” said Tyler Skarda, Lindblad’s senior vice president for marine operations.” The goal of the vessel is not to sit out at sea and watch shows or operate a casino. … The goal is to get the people off the vessel and into the environment. It’s to get them into these remote areas.”
Jensen Maritime Consultants began working with Lindblad in 2014 on a design for the company’s new cruise ships. The vessels operate in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest during the warmer months and in Baja California and Central America in the winter. Quest and Venture are purpose-built to bring guests into shallow ocean coves and narrow passages.
The resulting design is a ship with a 10-foot operating draft. Venture has a hard-chined steel hull with a bulbous bow optimized for efficient operations using advanced software and 3D modeling. Those programs created a “virtual vessel” that let Lindblad’s team review all aspects of the design before construction started.
This story is from the American Ship Review 2020 edition of Professional Mariner.
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This story is from the American Ship Review 2020 edition of Professional Mariner.
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