| IMO | 9817145 |
|---|---|
| Gross tonnage | 15,540 GT |
| Length | 138 m |
| Beam | 22 m |
| Passenger capacity (max) | 230 |
| Crew | 175 |
| Service speed | 16.0 knots |
| Builder | Vard |
| Yard | Tulcea |
| Launched | 2019 |
| Maiden voyage | 2019 |
| Operator | Hapag-Lloyd Cruises |
| Status | Active |
Overview
Hanseatic Inspiration is the second of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises' three-ship expedition class, delivered by Vard on 2 October 2019. She is a 15,540 GT luxury expedition ship for a maximum of 230 guests, built to Polar Class 6 — the highest ice class held by passenger ships of her type — and designed to work everywhere from Antarctica and the Arctic to the Amazon. Within the class she has a specific role: where her lead sister Hanseatic Nature was aimed at the German-speaking market, Inspiration was built as the bilingual, international ship, marketed in English as well as German. She is part of the late-2010s wave in which established luxury lines replaced chartered tonnage with purpose-built polar ships.
Key specifications
The dataset records 15,540 GT (Vard's delivery release rounds this to "close to 16,000 gross tons"), 138 m in length — the builder's release says 139 m overall — and 22 m in beam, a maximum of 230 guests, 175 crew and a service speed of 16.0 knots. Two capacity figures govern her working life: 230 guests normally, but 199 on Antarctic voyages, where landing regulations limit how many passengers can be ashore at once. She has seven passenger decks and 120 cabins. Her IMO number, 9817145, comes from an AIS registry record cited in the dataset build.
Design and construction
Inspiration is a Vard 6 07 design, drawn by Vard Design in Ålesund, Norway. Construction was split across the Fincantieri-owned Vard group: the hull was built at Vard Tulcea in Romania, and the ship was then towed to Vard Langsten in Norway for interior outfitting, with group companies supplying accommodation, piping, electrical systems and interiors. Steel cutting took place on 5 October 2017 at Tulcea, and the keel was laid there on 18 October 2017, with Hapag-Lloyd's chief executive Karl J. Pojer laying the traditional coin in the first hull block. The environmental specification is part of the design's identity: SCR catalytic converters cutting nitrogen-oxide emissions by almost 95 per cent, a Promas rudder and propeller arrangement for fuel efficiency, a hull form optimised to reduce consumption, and infra-red ice detection for night and fog. Expedition equipment includes a fleet of Zodiacs — some with electric drive — and a water-sports marina.
Naming, launch and maiden voyage
The dataset records both her launch and her maiden voyage in 2019. She was delivered on 2 October 2019, and her maiden voyage was a 15-day sailing from Antwerp to Tenerife departing 14 October 2019, by way of Honfleur, Guernsey, the Spanish and Portuguese coasts, Casablanca and Madeira. No separate naming ceremony is recorded in the sources used for this guide; the Hanseatic names themselves carry the line's heritage, reviving the name of its earlier expedition ship Hanseatic in a new three-ship class.
Career by operator
Hanseatic Inspiration has had a single name and operator.
| Period | Name | Operator |
|---|---|---|
| 2019–present | Hanseatic Inspiration | Hapag-Lloyd Cruises |
Her employment is the class pattern: polar work in the respective seasons, with warmer-water expedition cruising — the Amazon, island Atlantic routes, the Great Lakes among the regions the class was designed and marketed for — between them. This guide records the ship's career at that level and does not track her seasonal itineraries. Like every expedition ship, her early service was interrupted by the COVID-19 suspension of cruising in 2020.
Onboard character
The class's character is knowledge-led expedition luxury. Its signature spaces are the HanseAtrium, a multi-purpose lounge built around lectures and briefings, and the Ocean Academy, where interactive displays and study material let guests work into the science and geography of the region being visited. Two design details define the passenger experience of the place itself: retractable glass balconies on the sun deck that put guests out over the water, and a walkway circuit at the bow that brings them as close to the action of an ice transit or a wildlife encounter as the ship's structure allows. A speciality restaurant serving Peruvian and Japanese cooking was part of the as-delivered programme. The point of the design is that the ship is a platform for looking outward, staffed and equipped accordingly.
Major refits and incidents
No refit has been reported for Hanseatic Inspiration, and no significant incident involving her had been reported in the sources used for this guide at the time of writing.
Sister ships and class
Inspiration is the middle ship of a three-ship class: Hanseatic Nature (delivered April 2019), Hanseatic Inspiration (October 2019) and Hanseatic Spirit (2021). The three are structurally identical Vard-built ships, differentiated by market — Nature and Spirit for the German-speaking market, Inspiration as the bilingual international ship. The dataset leaves her class field blank; the class is Hapag-Lloyd's expedition class, sometimes styled the Hanseatic class.
Fate and where she is now
Hanseatic Inspiration is in active service with Hapag-Lloyd Cruises (status as recorded in the dataset).
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hapag-Lloyd_Cruises; Fincantieri/Vard delivery release, "Vard delivers Hanseatic Inspiration" (2 October 2019); Hapag-Lloyd Cruises keel-laying and catalogue reporting (2017–2019).