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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen
Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines
Published: 11 September 2017 11 September 2017

Vard, the Norwegian shipbuilder controlled by Fincantieri, said it has signed a contract to build an expedition cruise vessel for Coral Expeditions of Australia.

Newly developed by Vard Design in Norway in close cooperation with the customer, the vessel is specially designed for small ship expedition cruises to remote and exotic destinations in the regions of Asia-Pacific.

The vessel of VARD 6 01 design, measuring a total length of 93.5 meters with a beam of 17.2 meters, will have a guest accommodation capacity of 120. True to the Coral Expeditions business concept, the ship environment is geared for daily shore expeditions, lectures and briefings, with high standards of comfort and care. Delivery is scheduled from Vard Vung Tau in Vietnam in 1Q 2019.

With a 34 year history of innovation, Coral Expeditions is recognised as Australia’s longest established and most awarded expedition cruise operator. Starting with environmentally-sensitive cruises on the Great Barrier Reef, the fleet has grown to three Australian-flagged ships that include two oceangoing catamarans, Coral Expeditions I and Coral Expeditions II, and the flagship 63m Coral Discoverer.Headquartered in Cairns,

Coral Expeditions offers expedition cruises to largely unseen parts of the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef, the Kimberley region, Cape York and Arnhem Land, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, the Islands of the South Pacific, Tasmania, and South East Asia, the shipbuilder said.