Big things are happening at B Corp company Aurora Expeditions as it prepares to welcome its third expedition vessel, the ‘Douglas Mawson’, to the fleet – and to Australia for her maiden voyage in December. Steve McLaughlin shares invaluable industry insights.
Steve McLaughlin, Aurora Expeditions’ Director of Sales APAC, has seen incredible changes in cruising in the 35-plus years he has worked in the industry. Having sailed on seven world cruises onboard Cunard’s QEII as the sales manager, he worked in Cunard’s offices in New York and then Sydney, where he discovered the emerging sector of luxury expedition cruising.
“It was quite a leap from Cunard to expedition,” McLaughlin says of joining Orion Expedition Cruises in Sydney at the start of its operations. “I worked with (OEC founder) Sarina Bratton for many years, at Orion and Ponant – I’ve kind of followed her around!”
McLaughlin has now been with Australian company Aurora Expeditions for five years, at the forefront of another period of “blossoming growth” in expedition cruising.
“Aurora has been around for 34 years, founded by visionary adventurers Greg and Margaret Mortimer. Until 2018, we operated expeditions on one small ship and then we became the first company to launch a passenger ship with an Ulstein X-Bow – the Greg Mortimer.
“This year Aurora will be the first to bring an X-Bow ship to Australia – our newest vessel, Douglas Mawson, will make her maiden voyage from Hobart on December 1. We are also thrilled that Greg and Margaret will be onboard the Mawson’s Antarctica voyage from Hobart to Dunedin, departing on December 11, with Greg as the expedition leader.”
Small ships, big adventuresCalibri
Aurora’s three supremely comfortable, purpose-built ships Greg Mortimer (2019), Sylvia Earle (2022) and Douglas Mawson (2025) are almost identical. They accommodate a maximum of 130 passengers on polar voyages and discovery expeditions (destinations include the Americas, Scotland and Iceland) and 154 on culturally immersive small-ship cruises (around the Mediterranean, British Isles and Atlantic Coast).
McLaughlin is enthusiastic about the increased opportunities that come with a larger fleet of small ships. “Simply put, we can take more people to more places. Our first season of small-ship cruises in the Mediterranean, British Isles and Atlantic Coast sold out, so we’re expanding the program.
“We’re also offering more sailings in Costa Rica and Panama, which are prime real estate for photographers and wildlife lovers, and Indonesia and Borneo are new for Aurora.
“Douglas Mawson’s December 11 voyage marks the first time Aurora has returned to East Antarctica for 15 years, and we’re thrilled to have Emma McEwin, Douglas Mawson’s great- granddaughter and author of An Antarctic Affair onboard as a special guest.”
Changing demographics
Aurora’s expanding portfolio of expedition and small-ship itineraries is attracting an increasingly broad demographic. Its first all-women voyage in Antarctica in February 2027, flying over the Drake Passage in both directions, is proving extremely popular; Aurora has now added a 15-day women-only Arctic voyage in July 2027. Both are onboard the Sylvia Earle.
An Antarctic sailing chartered by Planetdwellers and Pride Tours earlier this year on the Greg Mortimer sold out and more charters are planned. “The ships are the ideal size for special-interest groups charters,” McLaughlin says.
Solo travel is booming, particularly among women and young adults. Solos can take advantage of Aurora’s no single supplement offers across all Antarctica voyages for the 2025/26 season, and all Arctic and Global Discovery expeditions until September 2026. The Douglas Mawson has four dedicated single cabins on every voyage.
Aurora’s multi-national passengers range in age from their 20s to 80s and what they have in common is a sense of adventure. McLaughlin recounts a story about an 82-year-old guest who sailed with Aurora to Antarctica “against her family’s express wishes. She was having none of that and met up with a 24-year-old man who reminded her of her grandson. They became great friends and did a polar jump together – how amazing is that?”
McLaughlin says Aurora pioneered some edgy off-ship activities in Antarctica that appeal to an increasing cohort of fit, adventure-minded passengers. “Over the years we’ve introduced activities such as scuba-diving, snorkelling, ice-camping under the stars, skiing and snowboarding. We’re always exploring more options.”
Expanding market
Just as the cruise industry in general has changed almost beyond recognition in the past 40 or 50 years, the expedition sector has evolved significantly over the past 10 years.
CLIA’s 2025 State of the Cruise Industry report noted that from 2023 to 2024, the number of passengers sailing on expedition/exploration cruises increased 22 per cent, and that the growth in global capacity for expedition/exploration ships is estimated to be 150 per cent from 2019 to 2029.
McLaughlin says that Aurora welcomes newer players in the market and the fact that there are now different styles of expedition cruises to suit different clients. “It’s important for our travel advisor community to keep learning about the differences and, like the industry itself, continue to grow. Education is the key – knowing the right expedition line for the right client.
“There’s room for all of us in this business, which is still very niche,” he says. “Ultra-luxury lines such as Scenic, Seabourn and Silversea are successfully diversifying into expedition, but they still have to keep traditional luxury clients happy with world-class dining, white-glove service and so on.
“Aurora is expedition led and expedition driven. I’m so impressed that we have people onboard who have worked for the company for 20, 25 years and know our destinations inside out. Our ships are built for polar regions and are equally at home in the tropics or the Mediterranean.
“We have the largest expedition teams of ships this size wherever we are sailing – when I was onboard recently, there was a team of 22 experts. And even though I was born and grew up in Scotland, I learned more about my homeland on a discovery cruise with Aurora than I’d ever known before.”
For more information, visit aurora expeditions
