China Merchants Heavy Industry

China Merchants Heavy Industry, part of the China Merchants Group, represents China's arrival in cruise-ship building — not with giant resort ships, but with expedition tonnage from its Haimen yard in Jiangsu. All six Phase 1 ships here belong to SunStone's Infinity class, built for charter to expedition operators. The first, Greg Mortimer of 2019, was the first expedition cruise ship built in China and the first cruise ship to use Ulstein's X-BOW hull form, designed to cut through head seas in polar waters. Her sisters — Ocean Explorer, Ocean Victory, Sylvia Earle, Ocean Albatros and Douglas Mawson — repeat the formula at around 8,000 gross tons, Polar Class 6, for Aurora Expeditions, Quark and others. European design and outfitting partners worked with the Haimen yard, making these ships a bridge between China's vast merchant-ship industry and the specialised cruise sector.

Phase 1 ships built by China Merchants Heavy Industry — 6