V.Ships Teams Up with Mystic Cruises to Provide Crew Services

V.Ships Leisure, part of V.Group, the leading global marine support services provider, has partnered with Mystic Cruises to provide crew management services including deck, engine, and hotel crew for the 9,300 GRT ice-classed vessel World Explorer.

The vessel, which is currently under the final stages of construction at WestSea Viana Shipyard in Portugal will be delivered to Mystic Cruises in Q2 2019. With capacity for 200 passengers, World Explorer will be Mystic Cruises’ first newbuild expedition vessel, and will feature innovative hybrid power management technology.

World Explorer will be on charter to Nicko Cruises during the summer and to Quark Expeditions during the Antarctica season. The vessel is the first in a planned series of up to 10 expedition vessels for Mystic Cruises, which intends to operate them with various charterers and directly through their new office in the USA.

Commenting on the partnership, Mário Ferreira, CEO, Mystic Cruises, said: “We decided to partner with V.Ships Leisure due to its proven track record in the cruise market. We are also confident in the team’s capability to meet our various and demanding crew management needs, and to provide us with relevant access to a world-leading independent crew network and world-class systems.”

Per Bjornsen, V.Ships Leisure director added: “We are delighted to partner with Mystic Cruises and look forward to leveraging our unique experience and expertise with start-ups and expedition vessels to support the company as it welcomes its first ocean-going newbuild.”

V.Group continues to invest in enhancing its operating model, with safety and quality front and centre. With the largest network of owned recruitment centres across the world, V.Group is taking positive steps through its Project Embark programme to invest in, and attract the best crewing talent from across the globe by focusing on the digital journey of the seafarer. Most recently, the company launched the first wave of its V.Crew Connect app in India, giving seafarers access to a seamless experience to support and ease the mobilisation and disembarkation process, and contract management. In addition, V.Group, V.Travel, and GMT recently combined resources to create a market-leading platform for managing and simplifying the seafarer journey from home to ship and back. 

V.Ships Leisure has a long track record of supporting the expedition cruise segment. To meet the rapidly increased demand for crew with necessary training in line with Polar Code requirements, V.Group’s training supplier, Marlins, recently developed an interactive e-learning for the Polar Code, in order to increase the pool of qualified talent for this sector.

Bjornsen concluded: “The award of the Mystic Cruises contract demonstrates how V.Group’s scale and flexibility allow us to compete and win across any region or sector. While we have the capacity and global crew network reach to cater to the major cruise groups, independent operators and start-ups can leverage the same scale and systems to compete with these large groups.”