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Built in 1969, Lindblad Explorer was the first custom-built vessel for the expeditionary cruise market. Carrying just 90 passengers, she cruised to the Antarctic Peninsula from Ushuaia or Punta Arenas via the Falkland Islands every southern summer and, during the remainder of the year, visited far flung destinations as then untouched by tourism, including Easter Island, the Galapagos, Alaska and the Amazon. CNCo acquired a 50% stake in the venture in 1980. It was a unique business and far removed from China Navigation’s cruise experience to date. Under the Swire flag, Lindblad Explorer became the first cruise ship to take American passengers into China since World War II, and undertook an 11,000-mile sub-Antarctic cruise from New Zealand to Argentina, as well as visiting the remoter islands in the Indonesian archipelago, the Barrier Reef, Papua New Guinea and the Red Sea. Passengers returned again and again but the adventure proved commercially disappointing and, at the end of two years, it was clear the operation was not a viable one for Swire long-term. |
Built in 1969, Lindblad Explorer was the first custom-built vessel for the expeditionary cruise market. Carrying just 90 passengers, she cruised to the Antarctic Peninsula from Ushuaia or Punta Arenas via the Falkland Islands every southern summer and, during the remainder of the year, visited far flung destinations as then untouched by tourism, including Easter Island, the Galapagos, Alaska and the Amazon. CNCo acquired a 50% stake in the venture in 1980. It was a unique business and far removed from China Navigation’s cruise experience to d ... View more |
