| Quest embarks on inaugural

LINDBLAD Expeditions’ long-awaited first newbuild, National Geographic Quest, commenced its inaugural voyage on Sat, an eight-day expedition exploring Southeast Alaska from Juneau.

The 100-passenger vessel will operate the Exploring Alaska’s Coastal Wilderness expedition through to 26 Aug and will finish off the Alaska season with a Treasures of the Inside Passage: Alaska and British Columbia departure on 02 Sep.

It will then sail a series of new voyages between Seattle and Vancouver, with stops in the San Juan Islands, Victoria, Alert Bay, and more far reaching stops in British Columbia.

From Dec National Geographic Quest will reposition and operate expeditions in Costa Rica and Panama before kicking off a series of new voyages in Belize and Guatemala from Feb.

Sven Lindblad, ceo and president of Lindblad Expeditions, commended the team on the achievement, saying “You all must feel a deep sense of pride and accomplishment, you have all worked tirelessly to make this possible, and are a part of history having played an important role in the building and launch of the most sophisticated and beautiful ship built in the US in decades”.

National Geographic Quest was initially slated to launch a few weeks earlier but was damaged during the launch operation when it slid from the ramp and was grounded (CW 29 Jun).