| IMO | 8903935 |
|---|---|
| Gross tonnage | 17,235 GT |
| Length | 155.75 m |
| Beam | 21.4 m |
| Passenger capacity (double) | 296 |
| Passenger capacity (max) | 296 |
| Service speed | 18.0 knots |
| Builder | Cantieri Navali Visentini; T. Mariotti |
| Hull number | 776 |
| Launched | 1995 |
| Maiden voyage | 1995 |
| Operator | Silversea Cruises |
| Status | Active |
Overview
Silver Wind is a small ultra-luxury cruise ship operated by Silversea Cruises, the second ship ever built for the line, entering service in 1995 a year behind her sister Silver Cloud. Together the pair founded Silversea's proposition: tiny passenger numbers, all-outside suites, most with verandas, inclusive pricing and a crew ratio mainstream cruising could not match. For her first quarter-century Silver Wind was a classic luxury ship. Then, in 2021, Silversea converted her into an ice-class expedition ship — an ice-strengthened hull, Zodiacs, kayaks and a mudroom grafted onto a 1995 luxury ship — giving her a second career in polar waters alongside her similarly converted sister.
Key specifications
The dataset records 17,235 GT, 155.75 m by 21.4 m, a maximum capacity of 314, a speed of 18.0 knots and hull number 776, IMO 8903935. Secondary sources vary around those figures in the way small-ship figures often do: her article lists 16,800 GT and about 296 guests in its summary, later fleet tables give 17,400 GT and 274 guests in her expedition configuration, and her capacity was reduced again for polar operation. The honest summary is that she is a roughly 17,000-ton ship whose guest count has been cut repeatedly — from around 296 in classic service to 274, and fewer in polar waters — as her space ratio rose. The dataset's 314 maximum should be read as a build-era maximum.
Design and construction
The dataset names T. Mariotti as builder; the fuller story, from her sister's and her own references, is a two-yard Italian build: the hull was built by the Visentini yard (yard number 776) and the ship was completed and outfitted by T. Mariotti at Genoa, because Visentini lacked room to finish her. She was launched on 16 October — her article gives the year as 1995, which sits awkwardly with completion the same year, while a Dutch ship-history source gives 16 October 1993 with delivery in January 1995. Designed by Petter Yran and Bjørn Storbraaten, she has a distinctive layout: passenger accommodation concentrated forward and public rooms aft, with lifeboats placed aft so that no suite's view is obstructed by them.
Naming, launch and maiden voyage
She has carried the single name Silver Wind throughout, following the Silver-plus-element naming of the founding pair. She was christened by Patrizia Lefebvre d'Ovidio, the founder's daughter-in-law, per Silversea's fleet history. She entered service in 1995; the dataset gives the year only for her maiden voyage and no precise date is asserted here. She was Silversea's second ship, following Silver Cloud into a fleet that then consisted of exactly these two sisters.
Career by operator
| Period | Name | Operator |
|---|---|---|
| 1995–present | Silver Wind | Silversea Cruises |
One name, one operator, two distinct careers. In classic service (1995–2021) she roamed worldwide as a small luxury ship, including duty as a hotel ship, with her sisters, during the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. In expedition service (2021–present) she operates as one of Silversea's expedition vessels, following Silver Cloud — converted in 2017 — into that role. Her return to service after conversion was completed in 2022, when her May departure from Piraeus marked the moment all ten Silversea ships were simultaneously back in service after the pandemic shutdown.
Onboard character
As built, her character was the original Silversea formula executed at 17,000 tons: only outside suites, some ninety per cent with private teak verandas, drinks and gratuities included, and a space and crew ratio that were, at debut, the highest in cruising. Public life centred on a show lounge, a main restaurant, the Italian La Terrazza and an observation lounge, in interiors that favoured quiet formality over spectacle. The expedition conversion kept that husk and changed its purpose: suites were refreshed, but the telling spaces became functional — a mudroom where guests gear up for landings, a photo studio, Zodiac boarding arrangements and an expedition team's working areas. She is now best understood as a luxury ship's body carrying an expedition ship's toolkit, with guest numbers cut precisely to make room for both.
Major refits and incidents
Three refits define her. In late 2008 she received a major makeover: a new observation lounge, a ship-wide décor renewal, enlarged suites and an expanded spa and fitness centre. In 2018 she had a further major upgrade. Then came the transformation: at the Remontowa yard in Gdańsk, Poland, in 2021, she was converted to an ice-class expedition ship — an ice-strengthened hull, ice-detector sonars, 24 Zodiacs and 14 kayaks embarked, a mudroom and photo studio added, a new advanced wastewater plant, food-waste treatment and fuel-saving boilers fitted, and suites and public rooms renewed. Her first post-conversion voyage, in November 2021, was planned as an Antarctic expedition timed for the December solar eclipse, though pandemic disruption delayed her full return to regular service until 2022. No major casualty is recorded in the sources used for this guide.
Sister ships and class
Her sister is Silver Cloud (1994), Silversea's first ship, built to the same design — hull by Visentini, completion by Mariotti — and converted to expedition service four years before her. The pair are the founding class of Silversea; later ships (Silver Shadow and Silver Whisper, then Silver Spirit and the Muse class) enlarged the formula but never replicated this exact design. Both sisters survive in expedition service, an unusually long and matched pair of careers.
Fate and where she is now
Silver Wind is active, in expedition service with Silversea under her original name — a 1995 hull in her fourth decade, kept relevant by the most extensive conversion in her line's history rather than by replacement.
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cruise_ships, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Wind, https://www.cruiseandferry.net/articles/silversea-cruises-to-convert-silver-wind-into-expedition-ship-1