Spirit of Enderby arrives in New Zealand as South Seas tourism thaws

The Spirit of Enderby and captain Alexandr Pruss arrive in Lyttelton. Photo /Maksim Serkalev, Supplied

The Spirit of Enderby arrived in the port of Lyttelton on Tuesday ahead of summer and the subantarctic tourism restart.

After a 30-day voyage to New Zealand from Vladivostok in Russia, her crew have completed testing and Covid protocols on arrival.

She is one of the few cruise ships to have been given an exemption to the maritime border order which so far has kept most ships at bay.

Next Tuesday Spirit of Enderby also known as the Professor Khromov will take fifty guests south, on a tour of Fiordland and into the Auckland Islands and Antipodes for a month-long sailing.

Directors Nathan and Aaron Russ welcomed what they hoped would be a successful summer season exploring the lesser visited parts of New Zealand.

"Aaron and I grew up exploring the Southern Ocean and it is an incredible privilege to once again share these very special places with adventurous New Zealanders," said Nathan.

Last year, Heritage was one of the few cruise companies able to sail to New Zealand's South Sea Islands due to Covid travel restrictions. These have been tightened under the current framework, meaning that all crew and guests will have to be fully vaccinated to sail this season.

"Our proven health and safety protocols had seen it successfully and safely operating expedition voyages in the COVID environment since November 2020, including our recent incredible Russian Far East season," said Aaron.

In February the Enderby will be returning to the Ross Sea in Antarctica, as one of the few ships to return to the area since the beginning of the Covid pandemic.

On the other side of Antarctica polar tourism has restarted in earnest, after a 20 month freeze. Since the beginning of November the ships have begun sailing from Chile And Argentina for South Georgia the Sandwich Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula.

It's fantastic to welcome visitors to Grytviken today. Le Lyrial is the first cruise ship to visit since early 2020! We hope and trust that every visitor takes away special memories of their time on #SouthGeorgia pic.twitter.com/dF97TITdd0

— Government SGSSI (@GovSGSSI) November 18, 2021

After zero sailings last summer, cruise companies have worked to knit together South Seas itineraries steering clear of the Falklands and the Covid related restrictions of more populated islands.

There are plenty of factors bringing tourists back. Culminating in a total eclipse visible from the Antarctic peninsula and South Shetland Islands occurring on 4 December.

Last Week South Georgia welcomed its first cruise ship since March 2020, Le Lyrial.

Operated by Ponant, Le Lyrial is the sister ship Le Laperouse which was denied entry to New Zealand in January due to visa processing issues.