Construction begins on Swan Hellenic’s second ship

The keel was laid this week on Swan Hellenic’s second expedition ship, to be called the Vega, in a ceremony at Helsinki Shipyard.

It is the second of three ice-class expedition cruise ships the shipyard is building for Swan, the storied British cruise brand revived last year with the order of three 152-passenger expedition ships with ice-strengthened hulls from the Finnish shipyard. The first is scheduled set sail for Antarctica in November.

• Related: Swan Hellenic gives a virtual tour of its first ship

Named after the first vessel to navigate the Arctic Northeast Passage, the 152-passenger Vega, slated to enter service in early 2022, will feature a diesel-electric hybrid propulsion system. Swan’s third vessel, which will be larger than its sisters, is scheduled for delivery near the end of 2022.

Swan Hellenic CEO Andrea Zito congratulated the Helsinki team for sticking to “such a demanding schedule while maintaining the highest quality standards.”

Swan launched service 70 years ago but ceased operations in 2017 when its parent company, U.K.-based All Leisure Holidays, collapsed. A team of cruise industry veterans led by Zito, Swan’s new CEO and a former Silversea Cruises technical operations executive, purchased the brand in 2020. He said in a statement this summer that Swan’s mission is “to be the leader in cultural expedition cruising” when it returns to service.