Seabourn has marked another milestone in the construction of its new expedition ship, Seabourn Venture. Ice model testing of the ship’s PC-6 rated hull has now been completed at Aker Arctic in Helsinki, Finland.

Seabourn says the tests provide a proven and effective means of ensuring Seabourn Venture’s hull design will perform as intended in the ice conditions it may encounter. A ship rated to PC-6 Polar Class standards is capable of summer & autumn operation in ice conditions in Antarctica, the Arctic, and other destinations around the world.

“We know that Seabourn Venture will deliver on the expedition experiences we’re creating after seeing this series of tests completed,” said Robin West, vice president of Expedition Operations for Seabourn. “Our team is fully committed to taking luxury expedition travellers to some of the world’s most sought after locations and Seabourn Venture is certainly going to be up to the task with its purpose-built design.”

Visualizing the way ice might behave in relation to the hull is a critical part of the design and build process for ships that will routinely operate in areas of the world where ice is common. During the ice testing series, a scale model mock-up of the ship’s hull is connected to a test carriage where manoeuvring and operational tests can be conducted while Seabourn and Carnival Corporation team members look on through a series of viewing windows.

The keel laying for Seabourn Venture will take place in December at the T. Mariotti shipyard in Italy. The ship is scheduled to launch in June 2021, with a second yet-to-be-named sister ship slated to launch in May 2022.