The Palumbo shipyard in Malta has redelivered Silversea cruises ‘Silver Cloud’ following a $40 mill conversion project.
She was fitted with an ice-strengthened hull ready for her inaugural season sailing for Silversea Expeditions.
‘Silver Cloud’ will carry 16 zodiacs, as well as 12 kayaks to allow guests to embark on Polar expeditions. Voyages will be led by a team of 20 experts in non-Polar regions and 22 in Polar regions. Daily presentations and lectures by experts in the theatre will also be streamed live to all suites.
The refurbishment also involved a series of technical enhancements, including extensive steel reinforcement to enable the ship to manoeuvre when expedition cruising.
The bulbous bow was replaced with a reinforced ice-class bulb to allow for navigation of Polar waters; new sonars were installed for underwater detection and new windows resistant to Polar temperatures were installed to ensure comfortable temperatures inside the vessel for guests.
“The successful transformation of ‘Silver Cloud’ into an expedition vessel following the exhaustive work by Palumbo Shipyards is another milestone for Silversea. ‘Silver Cloud’ was the first vessel in the Silversea classic fleet in 1994 and it is with great pride that we now welcome her to our expedition fleet alongside ‘Silver Explorer’, ‘Silver Discoverer’ and ‘Silver Galapagos’,” said Silversea CEO, Roberto Martinoli.
The vessel will have a guest capacity of 254 in non-Polar regions and 200 in Polar regions, which also means that all guests can disembark at the same time to explore each region, the company explained.
