Quark Expeditions aiming to add fourth ship, president reveals

Quark Expeditions is aiming to add a fourth ship to its fleet, according to company president Sam Seward.

Seward, who spoke to Travel Weekly in his first interview since starting his new role in December, said the Polar specialist was already talking to “various stakeholders” about a new vessel.

The fleet currently consists of Ultramarine, Ocean Explorer and World Explorer, with the latter set to be replaced by World Voyager in December 2026.

Looking further ahead, Seward said: “In terms of long-term fleet planning, we would love to be looking at an additional ship in Antarctica in a few years’ time.”

Asked whether such a ship would be a new-build or an acquired vessel, he said: “We’re in discussion with various stakeholders on what options are available to us.

“We built and own Ultramarine, but the other two vessels are charters, so whether we build or whether we charter is being worked through at the moment.”

Laying out the reasons for having a fleet of smaller ships, each with a capacity of below 200, he said there were landing restrictions on a lot of the places that are visited and these are also “sensitive marine environments and ecosystems”.

“Smaller ships with a smaller footprint are very important,” he said, adding that the guest experience is also a key consideration.

“You don’t want to have travelled several sea days and air days and be waiting on the ship for your turn in a Zodiac,” he said.

“Our hope is that whenever you enter these opportunities, when we’ve got humpback whales playing around the ship, we can get everybody into a landing or a Zodiac cruise or a hike and we can get that happening as quickly as we can and we’re not leaving anyone behind.”

Seward was previously managing director at Exodus Adventure Travels.

Photo: Sam Seward and Travel Weekly editor-in-chief Lucy Huxley