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This is the 40th and final update of National Geographic Explorer’s portal! It has been an exciting few months as we’ve transformed this former Norwegian ferry into a state-of-the-art Expedition Ship. Please look forward to the posting of the ship’s Daily Expedition Reports beginning next week from Iceland.

We are currently on our way to Amsterdam to take on fuel and provisions, unload contractors, and take on more carpentry, painting and cleaning crew to finalize various spaces onboard. All departments onboard the ship are bustling as staff and crew prime and ready shipboard spaces for our first operations next week.

The Deck Department is inflating kayaks and Zodiacs, and resurfacing exterior decks with no-skid treatments while the Hotel housekeeping department cleans corridors and cabins, stocks amenity kits, and puts out linens. The Galley staff has been practicing meal service in both the Bistro and the Restaurant. Our shipboard Doctor has stocked the Doctor’s Office with the latest medicines and gear. The Engine Department is fine tuning main engines, generators and other shipboard equipment, and our technology team is setting up the phone system, shipboard computers, and video presentation systems in cabins.

Meanwhile, our Expedition Team is quite busy as well. Undersea Specialists are setting up the ROV and other undersea gear, Naturalists have readied the Video Microscope, and other staff members have been familiarizing themselves with the advanced sound and presentation system in the Lounge. They’re also stocking the Library with over 600 titles relating to the ship’s inaugural season.

We’d like to thank you for taking the time to chart the progress and transformation of this magnificent ship. We look forward to welcoming you onboard as we commence a spectacular Inaugural Season from Iceland to Greenland, throughout the Canadian high Arctic, along the Canadian Maritimes and coastal New England, along the eastern seaboard of the United States, through the Panama Canal to Peru, from the Nazca Lines to Chilean Patagonia, and ultimately wrapping up a busy year in Antarctica.

From the National Geographic Explorer in the English Channel
Mathew Lachesnez-Heude, Environmental Manager
Lindblad Expeditions

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