Another Finnish Delivery For Revived Brand

A scaled-up consort to the company’s ice-classed sisters SH Minerva and SH Vega, the 12,000gt SH Diana employs the same engineering concept as the earlier ships, devised to give economic and environmental advantages against a demanding and multi-faceted worldwide operating programme. The installation comprises a 4.6MW diesel-electric/hybrid propulsion system, incorporating selective catalytic reduction(SCR) technology and a 3MW battery pack. The prime movers for the power plant are four Wartsila medium-speed engines.

Collectively known as the Vega class, Swan Hellenic’s purpose-built fleet features Scandinavian design interiors, extensive outdoor spaces and dedicated expedition-type passenger facilities.

Introduced in December 2021 and July 2022, respectively, the 113m SH Minerva and SH Vega were contracted from Helsinki Shipyard to Polar Class 5(PC5) standard, and each accommodates 152 guests in 76 spacious suites and staterooms, most of which have large balconies. SH Diana takes earning power a stage further, by hosting a maximum 192 guests in 96 staterooms and suites, and has been strengthened and fitted to meet PC6 ice-going criteria. Hull blocks for the latest vessel were fabricated at CRIST Shipyard’s Gdynia facilities and barged to Helsinki.

As the company’s largest ship, SH Diana is the first to be outfitted with bigger tenders as well as expedition zodiacs, to give passengers broader experiences in areas visited, including polar and sub-polar latitudes, the Norwegian fjords, and remote archipelagos. The accent in the worldwide deployment is on places of particular historical, cultural and geographic interest.

The vessels are designed with the requisite operating flexibility, manoeuvrability, robustness, range, self-sufficiency and system redundancy, and embody an onboard layout and organisation that offers high-grade attentive service to a limited passenger complement

With British roots, Swan Hellenic went into administration in 2017, but was re-launched by new interests in July 2020, and is now registered in Cyprus.

For its part, the Helsinki yard has seen many changes in its ownership over the years, including a period under Russian control, and could now be set for a future in Canadian hands. Attracted by the Finnish shipbuilder’s particular skills and track record in ice-going vessel construction and related technology, Chantier Davie of Quebec exercised its purchase option during March. The acquisition remains subject to a rigorous due diligence process, encompassing financial, regulatory and legal assessments.

The prospective buyer considers that Davie and Helsinki in combination would create a leading international centre of excellence for Arctic vessel shipbuilding. On the domestic front, Davie is a partner in the National Shipbuilding Strategy, under which it is expected to produce a new fleet of polar icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard and two hybrid ferries for Transport Canada.

MAIN PARTICULARS – SH Diana