MS Roald Amundsen, the world’s first hybrid powered expedition cruise ship, will make history yet again when she becomes the first ever ship to be named in Antarctica.
And instead of the traditional bottle of champagne, the vessel will be christened with a large chunk of ice in a ceremony originally undertaken by Amundsen himself.
When christening his famed expedition ship “Maud” in 1917, Roald Amundsen switched the traditional bottle of champagne for a chunk of ice.
A polar outside stateroom on MS Roald Amundsen, pictured top of page
Before crushing the ice against her bow, he stated: “It is not my intention to dishonor the glorious grape, but already now you shall get the taste of your real environment. For the ice you have been built, and in the ice, you shall stay most of your life, and in the ice, you shall solve your tasks.”
The naming ceremony will take place in the autumn as the ship makes her way to the white continent on her maiden Antarctica voyage.
“We can think of no better place to name the truly unique MS Roald Amundsen than the waters of Antarctica, where no ship has ever been christened before,” Hurtigruten CEO Daniel Skjeldam said today.
“To honour Roald Amundsen and his explorer heritage, we will revive his ritual. With over 125 year of Polar experience, Hurtigruten will use the first ever ship naming ceremony in Antarctica to pay our respects to our oceans, the environment and past and present explorers.”
MS Roald Amundsen made maritime history by being first cruise ship in the world to sail purely on battery power as she left Kleven yard for her maiden voyage off the coast of Norway in late June.