SunStone Ships has announced it has firmed up a second shipbuilding contract for its second expedition newbuild with China Merchant Heavy Industries. The Miami-based company is the largest supplier of expedition ships in the world on a charter basis, and is aggressively moving forward with a newbuilding program in China.

The first ship, the Greg Mortimer, will be delivered to Aurora Expeditions next summer (2019), while a second ship is now scheduled for an August 2020 delivery, the company said, in a prepared release.

Two more ships, scheduled for 2021 deliveries, already have signed charter contracts, the company said.

Similar to the first ship, the second vessel will be an Infinity-class X-bow newbuild with capacity for 160 guests. 

SunStone’s President & CEO, Niels-Erik Lund stated: “While we aren’t yet ready to announce the long-term charterer of the second vessel, we are happy to report that long-term charter contracts have already been signed for the INFINITY III and INFINITY IV.”

The INFINITY II contract was signed by David Zhu, Director of CMHI, and Lund.

SunStone has a contract to build four expedition ships in China with an option for an additional six.