The expedition ship Silver Explorer arrived for a lay-up last Saturday in Toulon harbour after crossing the Atlantic, becoming the third cruise ship present at the La Seyne-sur-Mer pier alongside the Silver Cloud and Club Med 2. This is a first for the La Seyne cruise terminal, even though these ships are not active but are waiting to resume their service, which was interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Silver Explorer moored on the northern part of the breakwater, at the stern of another Silversea Cruises ship, the Silver Cloud, which resides in the ports of Toulon Bay in Var Provence since 31st May (she came from the UK). As for the Club Med 2, which arrived from the West Indies on 8 of May, she returned to La Seyne yesterday morning to her berth on the South Breakwater, after a 48-hour round trip to Barcelona.
The Silver Explorer has been in service since 1989. Built in Rauma, Finland, she was bought in 2007 by Silversea : the vessel is 107.9 meters long and 15.8 meters wide, with a tonnage of 6 072 GT and 66 cabins. Its small size, as well as its reinforced hull (Ice 1A certification) is well suited for polar cruises.
Five of the nine ships of the Italian company Silversea, a subsidiary of the American group RCCL, have found shelter in French ports. In addition to two units now present in Toulon, three others, the Silver Shadow, Silver Whisper and Silver Wind have been waiting for a month in Marseille.
