WESTERN ANTARCTICA SEMI-CIRCUMNAVIGATION

ITINERARY SUMMARY

Swan Hellenic Minerva

Built in 2021, the SH Minerva is a 5 star elegant Scandi-design boutique ship that has been designed to journey to off the beaten path destinations and remote polar regions in style and comfort.  She will carry a maximum of 152 guest in 76 cabins.

The ship incorporates a PC5 ice-strengthened hull combined with extra-large stabilisers to make your journey as smooth as possible.  For the comfort of guests, suites have a separate living room and bedroom. All staterooms are equipped with spacious wardrobes and bathrooms.

Nestled in the foothills of the snow-capped Martial Range, Ushuaia’s colourful streets and mismatched buildings cascade from the imposing mountains before coming to an abrupt halt at the shores of the Beagle Channel. As one of the world’s southernmost cities, Ushuaia carries its ‘end of the world’ reputation well. The moody weather and dramatic surroundings certainly help. Board your boutique ship before departing for your journey through one of the most captivating wilderness regions of the world.

Spend your day at sea enjoying your boutique 5-star ship. Treat yourself to a spa day, attend an expert-led onboard lecture or enjoy the ocean views from the deck or the comfort of our Observation Lounge.

As you sail quietly past house-sized, free-floating tabular icebergs and pancake ice, you may be able to hear the sounds of creaking and popping as huge chunks break off and crash into the sea. While Gerlache Strait is filled with ice, the Antarctic Sound takes it up a notch with even more impressive bergs and ice cliffs. Possible landing points where you will meet thousands of breeding Adélie penguins include Brown Bluff and Paulet Island.

Among captivating glaciers, majestic icebergs and snowy islands, the Antarctic Peninsula is where most visitors to the White Continent will live out their Antarctica dream. The Antarctic Peninsula, the most accessible area of the continent, hosts several scientific bases and some of the most interesting wildlife scenery, such as the extremely photogenic Lemaire Channel. Shore excursions might include Petermann Island, where among Adelie penguins, blue-eyed shags and skuas, huge, lumbering elephant seals haul out.

Take in the magnitude of translucent bergs silently floating on crystal-clear seas, often broken up by the tail of a fluking whale and leopard seals resting on an ice floe, as we sail via two of the largest islands in the Antarctic – Alexander and Thurston Islands – past Peter I Island. Rarely visited by ships, Peter I is claimed by Norway. This ice-covered volcanic island is home to elephant seals, cape pigeons and southern fulmars.

One of the most remote areas of Antarctica, covered mostly by glacial ice from the Thwaites ice tongue, and part of the Southern Ocean, Amundsen Sea is named for legendary Norwegian explorer, Roald Amundsen who led the first team to reach the South Pole in 1911. Marie Byrd Land on Antarctica’s western coast is the largest single unclaimed territory on earth where chinstrap penguins and skuas have set up home on the ice-capped Shepard Island.

One of the last untouched salt-water wilderness regions, the Ross Sea region is home to an abundance of wildlife. Sailing through these remote waters, we’ll be on the lookout for southern right whales, orca, emperor penguins, parakeets and elephant seals, to name but a few. Antarctica’s largest Adelie penguin colony is located on the shores of the Ross Sea and is quite a sensory experience. This faraway place also exudes polar history – many of the expedition huts of past explorers are still perfectly preserved at the bottom of the world.

The southernmost seaport in the world, McMurdo Sound is bordered by the Ross Sea, Ross Island the McMurdo Ice Shelf. As earth’s most southerly navigable body of water, this is about as off-the-beaten-track as it gets – an easy thing to forget with the relatively busy daily activity of the 1,000 or scientists who live and work here over the summer. However, human activity is nothing new. Discovered by Captain James Clark Ross in 1841, the sound has since served as a convenient strategic waterway for the explorers of the past as well as present-day researchers.

Terra Nova Bay is located near the coast of Victoria Land and is home to the Mario Zucchelli Station, an Italian research station dedicated to earth sciences. Inscriptions, drawings and signatures cover the interior walls of the base, left behind by the few visitors who stop in each year. If conditions are right and we can visit the bay, you can take your place in Mario Zucchelli Station history.

One of the last untouched salt-water wilderness regions, the Ross Sea region is home to an abundance of wildlife. Sailing through these remote waters, we’ll be on the lookout for southern right whales, orca, emperor penguins, parakeets and elephant seals, to name but a few. Antarctica’s largest Adelie penguin colony is located on the shores of the Ross Sea and is quite a sensory experience. This faraway place also exudes polar history – many of the expedition huts of past explorers are still perfectly preserved at the bottom of the world.

Days at sea are the perfect chance to relax, unwind and do whatever takes your fancy. So whether that is going to the gym, visiting the spa, trying to spot a whale from the deck, reading a chapter or two, or simply topping up your tan, these blue sea days are the perfect balance to the green days spent exploring on land.

The Balleny Islands lie over 2,000 kilometres south of New Zealand, only a couple of hundred kilometres off the coast of Antarctica. The heavily glaciated islands have had few human visitors since their discovery in 1839. The surrounding Ross Sea is one of the most biologically productive regions in the Southern Ocean, with research into the extent of this claim still ongoing. Weather and condition permitting, here we can explore the striking coastal environments in our Zodiacs. We’ll be hoping to spot humpback, fin and minke whales along with crabeater, Weddell, elephant and leopard seals. Some of the islands here are also home to large colonies of Adélie and chinstrap penguins.

Today as you sail, you’ll bask in the endless comforts of your ship. From the deck, marvel at the dramatic sea views. Relax with a nurturing facial treatment or massage in the spa or delve into the ship’s learning resources. Or, simply take refuge in your cabin and enjoy the opportunity to rest.

Sealers discovered the tiny windswept Macquarie Island (or Macca) in 1810. The southernmost territory of Australia, it is the site for Macquarie Island Station, an Australian Antarctic base, and a Tasmanian natural reserve and world heritage site protecting a pesty tundra ecosystem. Colonies of loudly barking southern elephant seals breed here and you might spot giant petrels and albatross. Four species of penguin make the island home including royal penguins, king, gentoo and southern rockhoppers.

Spend your day at sea enjoying your boutique 5-star ship. Treat yourself to a spa day, attend an expert-led onboard lecture or enjoy the ocean views from the deck or the comfort of our Observation Lounge.

Renowned for their seafaring and whaling traditions, the principal Māori iwi, Ngāi Tahu considers Auckland Islands (Maungahuka) a place of great spiritual significance. Port Ross at the north end of the main Auckland Island – the largest of New Zealand’s subantarctic islands – is a breeding site for southern right whales. You might also get to spot New Zealand sea lions alongside some of the world’s rarest birds including yellow-eyed penguins, white-capped mollymawk and Gibson’s wandering albatross.

The smaller Enderby Island is a treat for birders including the Auckland Island snipe and teal, southern royal and light-mantled sooty albatrosses. The pocket-sized Auckland Island tomtit is a regular visitor and Hooker’s sea lion haul out here. Growing on this remote archipelago 465 km south of South Island is an exceptionally rich flora of 200 native species such as pink gentiana, red rata blossoms, white tree daisies and megaherbs including the Campbell Island carrot.

When Ferdinand Magellan crossed the world’s largest body of water some 500 years ago, he dubbed it Mar Pacífico, meaning “peaceful sea.” Cruise the Pacific Ocean as you depart from the north coast of New Zealand’s North Island. Perhaps attend an onboard talk or simply take in the magnificent seascapes.

Your luxury expedition cruise sadly comes to an end in Dunedin, on the South Island, the principal city of the Otago region. Set in a pretty bay that serves as a port and surrounded by bush-covered hills, the town has quirky historic appeal. One of the best-preserved Victorian and Edwardian cities in the Southern Hemisphere, Dunedin is known as the Edinburgh of New Zealand, and it’s proud of its Celtic connections. Small and eminently walkable, see elaborate civic buildings, New Zealand’s only castles, funky alleyways filled with street art, and picturesque parks. The Toitu Otago Early Settlers Museum and Otago Museum come highly recommended, as well as a visit to the Dunedin Chinese Garden.