Expedition Antarctica

With our expedition fleet, your clients experience the cruise of a lifetime where the extremes of nature determine the course and spontaneity is imperative for the crew.

During the Antarctic summer, between November and March, our expedition ships and their Zodiacs find safe routes to mysterious regions and the diverse animal kingdom of the sixth continent. A desert of snow and ice. Icebergs sculpted in the strangest shapes and most beautiful shades of blue. Awesome expanses and mysterious silence. The hardships of historic explorers have given way to the modern comforts on board, but the drama and pioneering spirit remain unbroken. Only the arrival and departure dates are fixed - everything else is expedition in its purest sense.

Further information on the regions, animal calendar, FAQs at: Expedition Antarctica | Hapag-Lloyd Cruises 

More than 130 years of pioneering spirit: our expertise has proven to provide the best foundations for expeditions and allow us to plan, prepare and perform these highly compley journeys. 

- Our expedition fleet has the highest ice class for passenger ships (PC6) - the HANSEATIC nature, HANSEATIC inspiration and HANSEATIC spirit can push aside broken pack ice and, if necessary, safely pass through a solid ice cover of around 90 cm. 

- Our expedition fleet is Polar Code certified - only ships with this certification are authorised to sail in polar regions

- Hapag-Lloyd Cruises is almost the only provider to offer voyages of this length (18 to 22 days). We want to give our guests the opportunity to see as much as possible. This means that we can cross the Antarctic Circle, which other ships cannot do in terms of time and because they do not have the highest ice class.

- As we only sail the Antarctic with 199 guests and just 100 guests are allowed ashore at the same time, we can offer up to two Zodiac landings a day. Larger ships stay at one landing site all day to be able to bring all guests ashore and can therefore only make one landing per day. This means that guests see much more and are out and about much more often.

- We don't just sail to the ice edge, we also sail into the ice and offer what is known as 'ice cruising'.

• Spectacular routes to remote regions where other ships have to turn back
• Cruises with respect to nature and wildlife and with a small group of no more than 199 guests
• Closer to nature on board thanks to an exceptional amount of open deck space
• Safety at the end of the world thanks to the highest ice class for passenger ships (PC 6)
• Captains and crews with decades of expertise
• See and understand more thanks to teams of experts who accompany the numerous Zodiac rides and landings
• State-of-the-art navigation, positioning and communications systems
• Long-standing membership of IAATO (International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators)
• Since 2020, we have been using marine gas oil with a maximum sulphur content of only 0.1 %. By entirely foregoing heavy fuel oil, we are reducing sulphur emissions by 80 % and particulate emission by 30 %.

Our Sales Representative for Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg visited the Antarctic on board the HANSEATIC inspiration: 

Braving untamed Antarctica – perhaps I’d dreamt of it my whole life. In the meanwhile I embarked already several times an extraordinary expedition cruise towards the deep south and the mighty ice, seeing penguins, seals, and humpback whales. It always is an intense and unforgettable adventure through the blue ice. 

Read the full article and be inspired!