Plancius Begins Repositioning for 2026-27 Antarctic Season
Originally built as Royal Netherlands Navy research vessel Tydeman in 1976, the 89-meter Plancius was rebuilt for expedition cruising in 2009 and now carries 108 passengers.
Oceanwide Expeditions’ Plancius departed the Netherlands in late September, becoming the first of the operator’s ships to begin repositioning for its 2026-27 Antarctic season. The vessel completed its Arctic summer schedule before heading toward Puerto Madryn, Argentina, where it is due on October 24, 2026.
The ship will embark passengers there for a 20-night expedition through the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula. Oceanwide is offering the voyage to professional photographers and photography enthusiasts, and a special expedition team will accompany the sailing.
Oceanwide described Plancius as “restocked and raring to go” in a social media post following a brief maintenance and resupply stop at its home port of Vlissingen.
Planned calls include Salisbury Plain, Fortuna Bay, Half Moon Island and Deception Island, with the voyage ending in Ushuaia, Argentina. The itinerary remains dependent on weather and ice conditions, so the locations visited may change during the expedition.
Oceanwide says the route offers opportunities to see six penguin species, along with other birds, whales and dolphins.
Hondius and Ortelius will join Plancius for the Antarctic season, operating expedition cruises from Ushuaia. The wider schedule also includes the South Shetland Islands and the Weddell Sea.
The 89-meter, ice-strengthened Plancius was originally built for oceanographic research with the Royal Netherlands Navy. Oceanwide’s vessel history dates its construction to 1976, when it entered service as Tydeman.
The ship remained in naval service until June 2004. Oceanwide then acquired it for conversion to expedition cruising, and the full passenger-vessel reconstruction dates to 2009, with accommodation, public spaces and expedition facilities replacing its former research configuration.
Plancius now has capacity for 108 passengers in 50 cabins. The vessel has diesel-electric propulsion and an average cruising speed of 10.5 knots.
The Antarctic program is scheduled to continue through early April. The vessels are then due to return to the Northern Hemisphere for their next Arctic expeditions.
