At thirty four years of age the 137 metre Ocean Endeavour is no longer in her first flush of life but she is never the less, a good and comfortable ice class ship well equipped for the waters she is trading in. A good seagoing ship she has a pleasing motion in most seas and her twin fin stabilisers do a good job of maintaining on board comfort.
Built in Poland during1982, she spent the first 22 years of her life as a car ferry flying the Russian flag as Konstantin Simono before becoming Francesca a name she carried for 5 years from 1996. She became Iris and was converted to passenger liner her carrying decks being turned into twin and 4 berth cabins during 2004. As Kristina Katarina she flew the flag of Finland and enjoyed success on the conventional cruise ship itineraries.
Owned by Endeavour Partners Ltd she is managed by Cruise Management International out of Miami. Now her stern shows her port of registry as Nassau in the Bahamas.
Her ice strengthen hull was the attraction when her present owners were looking for an expedition ship in 2013. After refitting her she was launched into the charter market as a polar expedition ship and is shared by two companies who each brand her as their own. In the summer of northern hemisphere she trades for Adventure Canada and swaps her livery to Quark Expeditions in the southern summers when she cruises the Antarctic.
Four Skoda Sulzer 6ZL40/48 engines each outputting 12,808 kW of power drive twin variable pitch propellers at a maximum speed of 16 knots. Despite the deep water in which she operates which often prohibits the use of anchors she is not equipped with a dynamic positioning system. Instead her Master employs the 600 kW bow thruster and the smaller 300 kW to good effect.
4 Sulzer diesel generators each of 1,088 kW provide the electrical power needed to keep the ship fully functional. On board reverse osmosis units can produce 100 tons of fresh water per day. The ship carries a multinational operational crew of 100 with 24 on deck, 16 in engineering and 60 attached to the hotel department.
Specifications
- Length Overall 137.1 metres
- Beam 21 metres
- Draught 6 metres
- Air draught 35.5 metres
- Gross Tonnage 12,907
- Deadweight 1,622
- Net Tonnage 4,618
- IMO# 7625811
- O/N 7000816
- MMSI 311 000 419
- Call Sign C6CA6
Frances and Michael Howorth explored the North West Passages onboard Ocean Endeavour with the help of Destination Canada www.destinationcanada.com and Adventure Canada www.adventurecanada.com We are truly grateful to them both for the opportunity they provided with us to do our job.