V.Ships Leisure has taken over the full technical management, crew management and port operations of the ‘Douglas Mawson’, Aurora Expeditions’ third infinity-class small expedition cruise ship.
She is now being managed from the the shipmanagement company’s offices in Monaco and Fort Lauderdale.
Operations started on 9th September, 2025, as the expedition cruise ship entered service following her delivery from China Merchants Heavy Industry shipyard.
She has a length of 104.4 m, a beam of 18.4 m and a passenger capacity of a maximum of 154, 130 while on expedition cruises, accommodated in 86 cabins.
‘Douglas Mawson’ is the seventh and final small cruise ship to be ordered by SunStone Ships, part of SunStone Maritime Group.
She is the third ship to join Australia’s Aurora Expedition’s fleet, following ’Greg Mortimer’ and ’Sylvia Earle’.
SunStone Ships’ latest addition was born out of a collaboration between Norwegian naval architects, Ulstein Design & Solutions, Swedish-American interior designers from Tomas Tillberg Design USA, as well as Finnish interior contractors, Makinen.
The vessel is Ice Class 1A and Polar Class 6 certified, which allows her to operate in both warm and cold waters.
All of the vessels from the series have been fitted with Tier III engines with selective catalytic reduction (SCR) that enable them to significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. They also boast heat recovery systems as well as LED lights.
