31 Night Cruise sailing from Invercargill to Ushuaia aboard Ortelius.

The ice-strengthened vessel "Ortelius" is an excellent vessel for Polar expedition cruises in the Arctic and Antarctica, providing possibilities to adventure remote locations such as the Ross Sea and Franz Josef Land. "Ortelius" was built in Gdynia, Poland in 1989, was named "Marina Svetaeva", and served as a special purpose vessel for the Russian Academy of Science. The vessel has the highest Russian ice-class notation (UL1 equivalent to 1A) and is therefore very suitable to navigate in solid one-year sea ice and loose multi-year pack ice.

"Ortelius" offers a comfortable hotel standard, with two restaurants, a bar/lecture room and a sauna. She can accommodate 100 passengers, has plenty of open-deck spaces and a large accessible bridge. A considerable number of quadruple and twin cabins with shared facilities (toilet and showers to be shared in the corridors) offer attractive lower starting prices for our Polar voyages.

Detailed Itinerary:

A typical itinerary is illustrated below. All itineraries are for guidance only. Programs may vary depending on local ice and weather conditions, the availability of landing sites and opportunities to see wildlife. The final itinerary will be determined by the Expedition Leader on board. Flexibility is paramount for expedition cruises.

A true Discovery voyage including the southern Antarctic Peninsula, the rarely visited volcanic Peter I Island, exploratory program along the outer fringes of the pack-ice in the Amundsen sea, Roald Amundsen's starting point from where he gained access to the ice-shelf and finally reached the South Pole in 1911, sailing voyage in the Ross sea, the huts of British explorers Ernest Shackleton and Robert Falcon Scott, Mc Murdo Station, the Dry Valleys and Macquarie Island - Welcome aboard one of the most spectacular expeditions on our planet!

Helicopter transfers:
During those voyages we will transfer our passengers ashore by zodiac. But, we will surely also operate our two helicopters if zodiacs can not be used. Potential candidates for helicopter transfers are Peter I Island, The Ross Ice-shelf, the Dry Valleys, Mc Murdo Station, Cape Evans (hut of Scott) and Cape Royds (hut of Shackleton). In theory we plan on five helicopter based landings, but a specific amount of helicopter time can not be predicted. The use of helicopters is a great advantage and can support us in our goal to reach certain landing sites, that otherwise are almost inaccessible. But, this is a true expedition and we operate our itinerary in the world's most remote area, ruled by the forces of nature, weather and ice conditions. Conditions may change rapidly, having its impact on the helicopter operation and passengers should understand and accept this. Safety is our greatest concern and no compromises can be made. No guarantees can be given and no claims will be accepted. The vessel is equipped with two helicopters, but in the case that one helicopter is unable to fly due to for example a technical failure, the helicopter operation will cease or even be cancelled, due to the fact that one helicopter always needs to be supported by a second operational helicopter. No guarantees can be given and in no event will claims be accepted.

Special note: crossing the Date Line:
Both OTL26 and OTL27 have a total duration of 31 nights / 32 days. However, looking at the starting and ending dates of the voyages, it "seems" that OTL26 has duration of 32 nights and OTL27 of 30 nights. This is explained by the fact that we cross the "date line" at 180 degrees longitude. Travelling on OTL26 and crossing the International Date Line, results in a day being added and on OTL27 results in a day being subtracted. In any case, the duration of the voyage is still 31 nights / 32 days for both voyages.

Please note: Voyage OTL27 offers the same itinerary as voyage OTL26, but in reverse.

Day 1: Ushuaia - In the afternoon, we embark in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, the southernmost city in the world located at the Beagle Channel and sail through this scenic waterway for the rest of the evening. Voyage OTL27 starts in Invercargill, New Zealand and offers the same itinerary as described hereunder, but in reverse.

Day 2 - 3: at sea

Day 4: We arrive in the Antarctic Peninsula and sail in the early morning through the spectacular Lemaire Channel and land on Pleneau Island, where Elephant Seals haul-out on the beaches. Gentoo Penguins, Kelp Gulls and South Polar Skuas are confirmed breeders. Pleneau Island was first charted by the French Antarctic Expedition of 1903-05 of Jean-Baptiste Charcot and was named after his expedition's photographer Paul Pleneau. We will also visit Petermann Island with colonies of Adelie and Gentoo Penguins and Imperial Cormorants (Blue-eyed Shags). Petermann Island was named after the German geographer August Petermann who was a member of a German Expedition in 1873-74.

Day 5: Sailing south through the Penola Strait, we cross the Polar Circle and arrive at the Fish Islands. The small islands lying east of Flouder Island are called the Minnows, first charted by the British Graham Land Expedition (1934-37) of John Rymill. Detaille Island was discovered by the French expedition of Charcot (1903-05) and named for a share holder in the Magellan Whaling Company. From 1956 till 1959, The British Antarctic Survey had their "Station W" located on Detaille Island. On both locations we may observe Adelie Penguins and Blue-eyed Shags.

Day 6 - 7: Bellingshausen Sea, where we may see our first pack-ice.

Day 8: Peter I Island or in Norwegian Peter I Ry is an uninhabited volcanic island (19 kilometres long ) in the Bellingshausen Sea. It was discovered by Fabian von Bellingshausen in 1821 and was named after the Russian Tsar Peter I. It is claimed by Norway and considered a territory by its own. It is sporadically visited by passenger vessels.

On earlier landings made by an Oceanwide office staff member he saw groups of Elephant Seals and colonies of Southern Fulmars and Cape Pigeons.

Day 9 - 14: These days we sail through the Amundsen Sea along and through the outer fringes of the pack-ice, which - depending on ice-conditions - will give us glimpses of the Antarctic Continent, while we take advantage of the west-going Antarctic coastal current. The sailing along and through the ice is very lively, with sightings of single straggling Emperor Penguins, groups of seals on ice-floes, and also Orca's and Minke Whales along the ice-edge, often accompanied by different species of fulmar petrels. If the sea-ice allows, we will try to land on Shephard Island in Marie Byrd Land among colonies of Chinstrap Penguins and South Polar Skua's. Shephard Island was discovered by the US Antarctic Expeditions (USAS) of 1939-41 and was named after one of the promoters of this expedition: John Shephard.

Day 15: We approach the Ross Ice Shelf, a floating mass of land-ice, with a front of 30 meters high. We intend to offer a helicopter landing on the Ross Ice Shelf.

In the Bay of Whales at the eastern side of the shelf, close to Roosevelt Island (named by the American aviator Richard E. Byrd in 1934 for President Franklin D. Roosevelt), Roald Amundsen gained access to the Shelf and ventured to the South Pole, where he finally arrived on 14 December 1911. For us it is perhaps a chance to climb on the shelf as well.

Day 16: Along the Ross Ice Shelf we sail to the west.

Day 17 - 21: In the Ross Sea we intend to visit Ross Island, guarded by Mount Erebus, Mount Terror and Mount Bird with all the famous spots which played such an important role in the dramatic British expeditions of the last century such as Cape Royds with the cabin of Ernest Shackleton. We also intend to visit Cape Evans with the cabin of Robert Falcon Scott; from Hut Point Scott and his men set out for the South Pole. We will further make attempts to visit the US-station McMurdo and Scott Base (New Zealand). If ice and weather conditions are favourable, we will use the helicopters to offer landings.

From Castle Rock we will have a great view across the Ross Ice Shelf toward the South Pole. We will have a view into Taylor Valley, one of the Dry Valleys, where on our planet you are closest to the conditions on Mars. For the Dry Valleys we plan to use our helicopters. This is just one example of helicopter use during this epic voyage.

Day 22 - 23: Sailing northward along the eastern west coast of the Ross Sea ,we pass by the Drygalski Ice Tongue and the Italian Station in Terra Nova Bay and further cape Hallet.

Day 24: Cape Adare is the place where people for the very first time wintered on the Antarctic Continent. The hut where the Norwegian Borchgrevink stayed in 1899, is surrounded by the largest colony of Adelie Penguins in the World.

Day 25: At sea, working our way through the sea-ice at the entrance of the Ross Sea.

Day 26: We sail along the Balleny Islands, discovered in 1839 by the British captain John Balleny.

Day 27 - 28: at sea.

Day 29: Macquarie Island is a Tasmanian State Reserve and became in 1997 a World Heritage Site. The Australian Antarctic Division has its permanent base on "Macca". The Australian Frederick Hasselborough discovered the island during a voyage, searching for new sealing grounds. The fauna on Macquarie is fantastic with colonies of King and Gentoo and Southern Rockhopper Penguins. The Royal Penguins (almost one million breeding pairs!) and Macquarie Shags are endemic species. Elephant Seals are also present, as well as various fur seals species such as the New Zealand Fur Seal.

Day 30 - 31: at sea.

Day 32: We arrive in Invercargill (New Zealand) where passengers depart for their homebound journey. Voyage OTL27 ends in Ushuaia, Argentina and starts in Invercargill and offers the same itinerary as described above, but in reverse