Atlas Ocean Voyages’ Grand Odyssey Expedition will be the longest voyage on the brand’s first luxury expedition sailing yacht, Atlas Adventurer, launching in 2028.
The Atlas Adventure journey departs Kobe on 30 November 2028 and calls at 87 destinations across 19 countries in Asia and Africa, tracing ancient trade routes over the Indian Ocean before finishing in Cape Town.
Countries on the route include Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Maldives, Seychelles, India, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Tanzania, Mozambique and Kenya, with overnight stays in 20 ports.
Atlas Adventurer, billed as the world’s first luxury expedition sailing yacht, is a 440-guest all-suite vessel, with seven fine dining venues, five lounges, a large pool, Zodiacs, luxury motorboats, and a marina platform with an ocean pool for water-based exploration.
Capable of zero-emission and near-silent operation, the yacht will be equipped with dual-fuel engines and electric-hybrid propulsion, featuring a large nine-megawatt marine battery system – one of the largest marine battery systems of its kind.
Cruise Traveller managing director Joe O’Sullivan says, “The brand new Atlas Adventurer will appeal to Australians who value effortless elegance, an abundance of space, elevated cuisine, efficient service, affordability, and a focus on authentic, low-impact discovery in remote and pristine places around the world”.
Meanwhile, Atlas Ocean Voyages is adding more ways to skip the Drake Passage on its 2027/28 Antarctica season on World Navigator, with two Drake-bypass itineraries next season, replacing the two-day sea crossing with a two-hour charter flight.
The expansion responds to strong demand for options that shorten or remove the notorious crossing between South America and Antarctica.
A charter flight between Chile and King George Island in the South Shetland Islands takes about two hours, against the traditional two-day sea passage each way.
The Drake Fly & Sail Expedition has two departures, in November 2027 and February 2028, sailing the Drake by sea one way before returning by private charter flight from King George Island to Chile.
Each expedition is led by a 17-member team of polar experts, naturalists, marine biologists, historians, photographers and kayak guides, with lectures, Zodiac excursions and shore landings, plus the optional polar plunge.
Atlas Ocean Voyages president and CEO James A. Rodriguez says the format is aimed at time-poor travellers.
“For those with more limited time, our ‘Fly the Drake’ expeditions provide the luxury of maximising your experience with options like our ‘Drake Express’ or ‘Drake Fly and Sail’, allowing you to reach your Antarctic adventure faster while still enjoying the comfort of our purpose-built yachts and travelling with a small community of curious, like-minded explorers.”
For more information, visit Atlas Ocean Voyages.
KARRYON UNPACKS: A 128-night, all-suite expedition across two continents is a rarefied sell, and inaugural sailings on a new class of ship carry scarcity built in. With a firm booking deadline attached to the flight credit, this is a story for advisors with clients who plan long-haul luxury years ahead, and who want to be first aboard a genuinely new kind of vessel.
