| Gross tonnage | 7,400 GT |
|---|---|
| Length | 104.4 m |
| Beam | 18.4 m |
| Passenger capacity (max) | 199 |
| Crew | 100 |
| Service speed | 15.5 knots |
| Builder | China Merchants Heavy Industry |
| Yard | Haimen |
| Launched | 2022 |
| Maiden voyage | 2023 |
| Class | Infinity-class cruise ship |
| Operator | Polar Latitudes Expeditions |
| Status | Active |
Overview
Ocean Albatros is a polar expedition cruise ship of SunStone Ships' Infinity class, designed by Ulstein of Norway and built by China Merchants Heavy Industry (CMHI) at Haimen, China. She is the sixth ship of the Infinity series and was delivered on 20 April 2023, entering service under charter to the Danish operator Albatros Expeditions, for whom she was the second Infinity-class vessel. At just 104.4 m in length and about 7,400 GT, she belongs to the generation of small, ice-classed, purpose-built expedition ships that transformed polar cruising in the early 2020s.
The Infinity class is notable in shipbuilding history as the first series of cruise ships built in China for the international market, and the first to bring Ulstein's X-BOW hull form — long proven on offshore vessels — into passenger service. Ocean Albatros embodies both firsts in their mature form: by the sixth hull, the design's arrangement, expedition logistics and hotel fit-out had been refined across five earlier deliveries.
Key specifications
The dataset records Ocean Albatros at 7,400 GT, 104.4 m in length and 18.4 m in beam, with a maximum capacity of 199 persons, a crew figure of 100 and a maximum speed of 15.5 knots. Ulstein's own reference page for the ship confirms the principal dimensions, the 15.5-knot maximum speed and the 199-passenger accommodation figure, and gives a total persons-on-board figure of 300. Her IMO number was not confirmed in the sources used for the dataset and is left blank.
Registered Infinity-class tonnages vary hull by hull across the series — sister ships are recorded between roughly 7,400 and 8,500 GT — so the class figure should not be assumed to transfer between ships; the 7,400 GT carried here is the figure recorded for this hull in the dataset, matching Ulstein's class-level presentation.
Design and construction
Ocean Albatros was built to Ulstein's CX103 design, the template for the whole Infinity class. The defining feature is the X-BOW, an inverted bow that slices through waves rather than riding over them, reducing pitching, spray and speed loss in head seas — qualities that matter disproportionately on the long ocean crossings expedition ships make to reach polar regions. The hull is built to Ice Class 1A / Polar Class 6 standard, and the ship complies with the Polar Code and with Safe Return to Port requirements under SOLAS.
Construction took place at CMHI's Haimen yard in Jiangsu, China. Her keel was laid on 20 January 2022, she was launched on 16 September 2022, and she completed sea trials in January 2023 — trials conducted, the yard reported, through storm conditions and heavy fog — before delivery to SunStone Ships on 20 April 2023. Interiors for the Infinity class were developed by Tomas Tillberg Design. Like her sisters, she is owned by SunStone Ships and placed with an operator on long-term charter, the business model on which the entire class was financed and built.
Naming, launch and maiden voyage
The name Ocean Albatros continues Albatros Expeditions' ocean-bird naming pattern for its chartered Infinity tonnage, following Ocean Victory. She was launched at Haimen on 16 September 2022 and delivered the following April. Her maiden voyage took place in June 2023, departing Longyearbyen, Svalbard, for an Arctic expedition season — the dataset records her maiden voyage simply as 2023. She was also formally christened by Albatros Expeditions as the sixth Infinity-class ship, although the christening post-dated her entry into service, as is common with chartered expedition tonnage.
Career by operator
Ocean Albatros was delivered new to a long-term charter with Albatros Expeditions and sailed for that brand from 2023. In October 2025, trade reporting recorded a change: following the merger of Polar Latitudes with the Albatros Travel Group, the ship passed to the combined brand Polar Latitudes Expeditions, which Ulstein's reference page now also lists as her operator. The dataset, frozen in October 2026, still records Albatros Expeditions as operator; the change is noted here from the later sources and logged in the batch notes for the parent agent to reconcile.
| Period | Name | Operator |
|---|---|---|
| 2023–2025 | Ocean Albatros | Albatros Expeditions (charter from SunStone Ships) |
| 2025–present | Ocean Albatros | Polar Latitudes Expeditions |
Onboard character
Ocean Albatros's character is that of the modern charter expedition ship: a working platform for shore landings wrapped in a comfortable small-ship hotel. The design centres on expedition logistics — a mudroom for gearing up, hangar space for the fleet of inflatable landing boats, and observation space concentrated forward, where the X-BOW arrangement allows large lounge windows close to the waterline for wildlife watching. Accommodation is in about 95 staterooms, all with unobstructed sea views and most with balconies, a standard the Infinity class applied consistently across its hulls.
Because the class was designed for multiple charterers, the interiors are deliberately neutral in branding: Tillberg's hotel design is contemporary Scandinavian in tone and can be re-badged between operators without structural change, as this ship's own transfer between expedition brands demonstrates.
Major refits and incidents
No major refits or incidents are recorded for Ocean Albatros in the sources consulted. She is a young ship in seasonal expedition service, and no casualty, grounding or significant technical casualty had been reported for her at the time of writing.
Sister ships and class
The Infinity class (Ulstein CX103) built for SunStone Ships at CMHI Haimen comprises, in delivery order, Greg Mortimer (2019), Ocean Explorer (2021), Ocean Victory (2021), Sylvia Earle (2022), Ocean Odyssey (2022), Ocean Albatros (2023) and Douglas Mawson (2025). All share the X-BOW hull, Polar Class 6 notation and broadly similar dimensions, while differing in interior arrangement, tonnage as registered, and the operator to which each is chartered. Ocean Albatros's closest relative in service terms is Ocean Victory, the earlier Infinity ship chartered to the same Danish expedition group.
Fate and where she is now
Ocean Albatros is an active expedition ship, recorded in the dataset with the status "Operating". She remains a SunStone-owned Infinity-class hull working in the polar expedition market; the operator-brand change reported in 2025 is described in the career section above. Consistent with this directory's evergreen policy, no itinerary or seasonal deployment information is given here.
Sources: https://ulstein.com/references/ocean-albatros