Aurora’s Douglas Mawson Returns to Antarctica for Second Season
Named for Antarctic explorer Douglas Mawson, the vessel was christened in Sydney by his great-granddaughter, Emma McEwing, before its first passenger voyage.
Aurora Expeditions’ 170-passenger Douglas Mawson has completed its first year since delivery and is preparing to return to Antarctica for a second season. Delivered on September 9, 2025, the vessel sails for Aurora under a long-term charter agreement.
The ship spent most of 2026 in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe under Aurora’s Vantage Explorations program. That schedule ended in mid-October.
Ordered by SunStone Maritime Group and constructed at China Merchants Heavy Industry’s Haimen yard in China, the 8,076-ton vessel is the seventh and final ship in the Infinity class. Aurora also operates two earlier ships in the series: Greg Mortimer, built in 2019, and Sylvia Earle, built in 2022.
Douglas Mawson was designed for expeditions in polar waters and other remote regions. It holds Polar Class 6 certification and is built to Safe Return to Port specifications, with Ulstein’s X-Bow, virtual anchoring and zero-speed stabilizers.
The ship takes its name from the Australian geologist and Antarctic explorer associated with the 1911–1914 Australasian Antarctic Expedition. His great-granddaughter, Emma McEwing, served as godmother at the vessel’s naming ceremony in Sydney before its first passenger voyage.
Although the delivery anniversary fell in September, passenger operations began on December 1, 2025. The maiden sailing was an 11-night itinerary operating roundtrip from Hobart, with calls including Recherche Bay, South Bruny Island and the Freycinet Peninsula in Tasmania.
The vessel subsequently sailed to East Antarctica and the Ross Sea during its opening Antarctic season before repositioning to Europe. Aurora did not offer executive comment on the anniversary.
For its forthcoming Antarctic deployment, Douglas Mawson will sail from Ushuaia, Argentina. Scheduled itineraries include the Falkland Islands and South Georgia, as well as Elephant Island and the Antarctic Peninsula.
