National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions will retire two vessels built in the 1980s and charter an Aurora Expeditions ship for three years, starting in 2027.
The chartered ship, the Greg Mortimer, will join the fleet upon retirement of the National Geographic Sea Bird and National Geographic Sea Lion.
The 154-guest Greg Mortimer will sail in Alaska, where there is high demand, said Lindblad Expeditions CEO Natalya Leahy. It is a significantly bigger and younger ship than the 62-passenger Sea Bird and Sea Lion. The Greg Mortimer debuted in 2019. The Sea Lion and Sea Bird were built in 1982 and last refurbished in 2014.