Sylvia Christens the Sylvia Earle in Antarctica

We’re thrilled to announce the official christening of our second purpose-built small ship, the Sylvia Earle. Namesake and godmother, Dr Sylvia Earle performed the ceremony in Antarctica in recognition of the ship’s pioneering nature. 

With its strong focus on education and conservation, the new Sylvia Earle is designed to accommodate an average 132 passengers per voyage in an atmosphere of equality, fun and informality. A dedicated Science Centre is the hub for a variety of participative and educational Citizen Science programs. In another world first, each of the Sylvia Earle’s decks are named after six other pioneering female conservationists – Jo Ruxton (MBE), Dr Carden Wallace (AM), Sharon Kwok, Bernadette Demientieff, Dr Asha de Vos and Hanli Prinsloo – with a deck dedicated to Dr Earle herself.

“Thank you, Aurora for the approach that you use to keep people inspired about the ocean. Exploring the ocean, using knowledge to take care of all this on our planet. This is an experience that I am happy to share with everyone here and I’m looking at Aurora as the voice of the ocean.”  

Dr Sylvia Earle 
Sylvia EarleAbout Dr Sylvia EarleDr Earle is a world-renowned marine biologist, oceanographer and explorer. She was the first female Chief Scientist of the US National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration and a National Geographic explorer-in-residence since 1998. Named by Time magazine as its first ‘Hero of the Planet’, her own conservation initiative Mission Blue is creating a global network of marine protected areas known as ‘Hope Spots’.
About the author

Nicola is the Managing Director of Micro-Cruising. Small ships great trips. Micro-Cruising sells trips on ships of 100 passengers or fewer. We are the specialists in small ships with over 700 vessels worldwide.