UK “DISCOVERY” SHIPPING LINE SWAN HELLENIC IS BACK IN BUSINESS

Seventy years on from Swan Hellenic’s discovery cruise beginnings, the British born expedition cruise line is back.

Two state-of-the-art expedition ships are being built in Helsinki Shipyard Oy, Finland aimed at providing 152 guests what the line describes as “an elegant, intimate and personal onboard experience” delivered by 120 warm, friendly and knowledgeable staff. The first ship will set sail for Antarctica in November 2021, the second will be gracing the water in April 2022.

The brand has a rather colourful past. Swan Hellenic was first established as “Swan’s Tours” in the 1950s as a tour operator, visiting historic sites. In 1983, Swan Hellenic was acquired by P&O, but it ended operations in 2007. Shortly after, All Leisure Holidays Group purchased and revived Swan Hellenic, but ended its operations in 2017. G Adventures acquired the brand later that year then re-sold it to a private group in 2020, which has now finally resumed Swan Hellenic’s operations.

Andrea Zito, Swan Hellenic’s CEO explains: “I am proud to announce the rebirth of Swan Hellenic a pioneering iconic travel brand with the mission to be the leader in cultural expedition cruising. The new Swan Hellenic, retains its British heritage whilst being international in outlook. Aimed at the traveller, who wishes to explore, experience and enrich whilst the infinite beauty of the world and its inhabitants in a safe and sustainable way”.

Swan Hellenic is looking forward to building relationships with the trade. With Zito adding, “Swan Hellenic was always a family brand and we want to continue along the same line by inviting all cruise industry partners to become part of the new Swan Hellenic community”.

UK "DISCOVERY" SHIPPING LINE SWAN HELLENIC IS BACK IN BUSINESS
Club deck

The company is launching with offices in Monaco, in the UK and Germany to start with. The senior management team with over 100 years of cruise industry experience is led in the UK by John Warner (GAdventures/Trailfinders) and Mario Bounas (Royal Caribbean/The Langham), Alfredo Spadon in Germany (Silversea/MSC) and Andrea Zito in the Monaco Headquarters (Silversea/Vships).

UK "DISCOVERY" SHIPPING LINE SWAN HELLENIC IS BACK IN BUSINESS
Sauna with a view…

For now, the website is live, and Andrea Zito added: “Over the course of the next few weeks and months we’ll be releasing more information about a number of exciting developments from Swan Hellenic. We are back and we’re bigger and bolder than ever”.

Photo – top of page – artists’ impression – Swan Hellenic Vega

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