Mystic Cruises Sets Industry First By Using Hydrojets on Cruise Ships

World Explorer is the first cruise ship to employ hydrojet technology to bring guests closer to marine wildlife by minimizing underwater noise. A technology initially developed for naval warships, the two onboard Schottel SPJ 82 Pump Jets can propel World Explorer at a near-silent cruising speed of five knots without scaring sea life away. Sailing under the Mystic Cruises brand, World Explorer – and sister-ship World Voyager, launching in 2020 – incorporates the hydrojet drive among many innovations that help maximize safety and minimize the ship’s environmental impact when bringing guests to some of the world’s most remote and captivating destinations.

Atlas Ocean Voyages’ World Navigator, launching in 2021, also will be equipped with the innovative propulsion system and other innovative technologies. Atlas Ocean Voyages is the distributor of Mystic Cruises in North America and both are subsidiaries of Mystic Invest Holding.

Unlike propellers, hydrojets diminish vibrations and cavitation and significantly decreases underwater noise. Sea life is highly sensitive to noise – which travels farther and louder in water – and tends to scatter when they hear propeller-only, propulsion ships. Each hydrojet pumps water in and out to produce drive and, like azipods, can be directed 360 degrees in order to navigate the ship along pristine shorelines or dynamically position by GPS without the use of the ship’s twin four-blade propellers. For a video about how the Schottel SPJ Pump Jet works, please visit https://www.schottel.de/marine-propulsion/spj-pump-jet/.

In some destinations, guests will enjoy the thrill of wet landings aboard one of 18 custom-designed Zodiac MilPro Mark V inflatable boats. To ensure safer gasoline containment, each Zodiac is constructed with a special, reinforced bow chest that accommodates a larger-capacity gasoline bladder to deliver more than three times the average operational range. Each Zodiac also features 12 anti-skid panels – four more than average – to ensure safer guest embarking and disembarking anywhere along the buoyancy tube. Furthermore, World Explorer and her sister ships are designed with an onboard gasoline storage and pumping system that make Zodiac fueling operations even safer.

Conservation is also top of mind. Still and sparkling water in refillable glass bottles are delivered daily to staterooms and suites. Single-use plastics in forms of straws, cups, stirrers, etc. will not be offered and waste that cannot be repurposed or reclaimed will be stored in a dedicated and refrigerated hold for landing with a responsible handler in port.

As previously announced, FarSounder’s Forward-looking Sonar are installed at the front of the 1B-Ice Class certified hulls to ensure safe navigation through harbors, rivers, and ice fields. Each ship is also equipped with two C25:33L8P main engines and a Bergen C25:33L6P auxiliary dual generator. These connect to a low voltage AFE “SAVeCUBE” power electric system, which provides maximum fuel efficiency while operating at variable speeds and consumes as low as one-fifth the marine diesel oil compared to conventional engines.

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