---
Choose a Cruiseline or a ship
Question or 
quote?

Ask an agent

Itineraries of the SH Minerva

Price and Availability Notice
Prices displayed are provided for informational purposes only. They reflect the rates in effect at the time of their most recent update and are shown in Canadian dollars, per person, based on double occupancy, unless otherwise specified.

Supplier rates, exchange rates, taxes and fees, room or cabin categories, and promotions are subject to change at any time. The applicable price is the one confirmed by a travel advisor at the time of booking, subject to availability. Only the confirmed price shall be considered valid.

It is the traveler's responsibility to confirm the price, inclusions, and applicable terms and conditions before making a reservation. While every effort is made to keep our content up to date, transmission, display, or pricing errors may occur. In such cases, the correct price will be communicated to the traveler before any booking is confirmed. Certain terms, restrictions, and exclusions may apply.

    Ship's attributes

    Services And Amenities

    • Elevators
    • Self-service laundry room
    • Casino
    • Jacuzzi
    • Pool
    • Beauty salon
    • Spa & body care

    Technical specifications

    • Tonnage:  11
    • Passengers:  152
    • Decks:  9
    • Length:  114 m
    • Width:  24 m

    SH Minerva: three years at anchor in Uruguay, and back in service in November 2025

    SH Minerva is sailing again. Between the spring of 2022 and July 2025 she did not move from Fray Bentos, in Uruguay, not because of a breakdown but because of a financing structure caught by international sanctions. Our calendar carries none of her departures at the moment; that is measured on our side and says nothing about what the line sells. Your advisor can look.

    The ship

    Delivered in 2021 by the Helsinki shipyard, hull ice-strengthened to Polar Code PC 5, 152 guests in 76 suites. She is the first of three ships ordered to revive Swan Hellenic, an expedition house whose voyages go back to the 1950s.

    Why she sat still for three years

    The structure was a common one: a dedicated company holds the hull and leases it long-term to the operator. Here that company was an Irish subsidiary of GTLK, a Russian financial group. The invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions that followed left Swan Hellenic in a dead end — barred from paying the lease, barred from buying the ship. While lawyers untangled it, the ship waited on the Uruguayan estuary, on a skeleton crew, with no passengers.

    The way out

    Swan Hellenic recovered the ship on 25 July 2025, after the GTLK subsidiary was declared insolvent and the liquidators obtained clearance to sell the asset. After maintenance she returned to service in November 2025, alongside her two sisters, on Antarctica and on announced Asia-Pacific programmes.

    The other two ships in the fleet

    SH Vega is her sister hull and SH Diana is the third unit, larger. A word on the name, finally: Swan Hellenic already ran a Minerva II in the early 2000s. That was an entirely different hull, today Azamara Pursuit, and you will find her under her former name of Fathom Adonia.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Yes. She returned to service in November 2025 after three years laid up, alongside SH Vega and SH Diana.
    Because of a financing structure caught by sanctions. The hull was held by a dedicated company, an Irish subsidiary of GTLK, a Russian financial group, which leased her to Swan Hellenic. After the invasion of Ukraine the line was left in a dead end: barred from paying the lease, barred from buying the ship.
    At Fray Bentos, in Uruguay, from the spring of 2022 to July 2025, on a skeleton crew and with no passengers.
    The GTLK subsidiary was declared insolvent, and its liquidators obtained clearance to sell the asset despite sanctions. Swan Hellenic recovered the ship on 25 July 2025.
    She was maintained before returning to service, which is normal practice after a long stop. We have no technical report and we will assert nothing further.
    At the Helsinki shipyard, delivered in 2021.
    One hundred and fifty-two guests in seventy-six suites.
    Her hull is strengthened to Polar Code PC 5. That is what permits the Antarctic programmes.
    A British expedition house whose voyages go back to the 1950s. The brand was relaunched with an order for three ships, of which this is the first.
    Three: SH Minerva, SH Vega which is her sister hull, and SH Diana, which is larger.
    In Antarctica, and on announced Asia-Pacific programmes.
    Yes, and it is a confusion to clear up. Swan Hellenic ran a Minerva II from 2003 to 2007: a hull delivered in 2001 by Chantiers de l'Atlantique, since become Azamara Pursuit. No connection with this one, which is new.
    None on our calendar at the moment. That is measured on our side, and it says nothing about what the line sells: your advisor can look.
    Yes, November 2025, after the maintenance that followed the recovery of the ship in July of the same year.
    Your agency, and it alone. Voyages AquaTerra operates under a licence from Quebec's Office de la protection du consommateur, your payments pass through a trust account, and the compensation fund for travel agency clients covers your departure.
    • #SH Minerva
    • #SH Minerva cruise
    • #Swan Hellenic
    • #luxury expedition cruise
    • #polar cruise
    • #Arctic cruise
    • #Antarctic cruise
    • #scientific expedition cruise
    • #cultural expedition
    • #small expedition ship
    • #nature voyage
    • #wildlife viewing cruise
    • #sustainable tourism
    • #intimate cruise experience
    • #polar exploration
    • #ocean adventure
    • #premium cruise experience
    • #extreme destinations
    • #immersive travel
    • #responsible travel
    Ask an agent
    1-866-628-6241
    Entrez le code de sécurité