Aurora Expeditions has announced the final season for the Polar Pioneer, as the 54-guest ship will be replaced by the new 160-guest Greg Mortimer. 

“Polar Pioneer will be sailing her final polar voyages to Antarctica in 2018 and 2019, and the Arctic and Scotland in 2019,” the company said.

The 1,700-ton ship concludes its Aurora Expeditions career in summer 2019. 

She was originally built as an ice-strengthened research vessel in Finland in 1982, and was refurbished in 2000 and converted into a passenger ship for expeditions to the polar regions.

Aurora will welcome the Greg Mortimer, currently under construction in China, on a long-term charter agreement from SunStone Ships in August 2019.