Chilean shipbuilder ASENAV has completed the 94-metre Magellan Discoverer, the first hybrid-electric polar cruise ship built in the Americas, with formal delivery to Antarctica21 due by the end of this week, according to a company statement.
The $90m newbuilding left ASENAV’s yard in Valdivia, Chile, on 26 October for final tests off Corral before a planned 30 October departure for Punta Arenas, about 1,020 nautical miles to the south.
“At the end of this week we’ll deliver her to her owner Antarctica21,” ASENAV business development and marketing manager Germán Schacht Kossmann said after the departure.
Construction took about 33 months and involved more than 500 employees, contractors and suppliers. ASENAV general manager Fernando Rodríguez put investment in the project at about $90m.
Magellan Discoverer is 94 metres long and 17.2 metres wide and was built to Polar Class 6 and IMO Tier III requirements. Its hybrid-electric propulsion system combines diesel generation, electric propulsion and battery storage, with two 1,800-kW diesel engines and an open-water speed of 14 knots.
ASENAV says the propulsion arrangement is intended to cut fuel consumption by about 25%, reduce emissions by as much as 30% and lower underwater noise. The ship can carry up to 88 guests on air-cruise itineraries and 96 on sea voyages, in addition to 67 expedition staff and crew. It has endurance of up to 60 days without resupply.
Magellan Discoverer completed a five-day sea-trial programme off Valdivia covering propulsion, power generation, manoeuvring, control and safety systems. Its inaugural passenger voyage is scheduled to leave Punta Arenas on 15 December 2026 for a 10-day expedition through southern Patagonia and the Beagle Channel before crossing the Drake Passage to Antarctica.
Magellan Discoverer is the second purpose-built polar expedition ship linking ASENAV and Antarctica21. ASENAV also built Magellan Explorer, which entered Antarctica21 service in 2019.
Astilleros y Servicios Navales S.A., or ASENAV, was formally established in 1974 and says it has delivered more than 200 vessels. Antarctica21 was founded in Punta Arenas in 2003 and operates Antarctic air-cruise itineraries combining flights across the Drake Passage with expedition voyages.
