Svalbard · 12 days · June – August 2027
Twelve daysto the edgeof the ice
Longyearbyen to 81°N and back on an ice-class ship of 132 guests, under a sun that does not set. Scroll to sail the route.
Day 03 Magdalenefjorden · 79°33′N
A glacier face, from the water.
Zodiacs idle 200 metres off Waggonwaybreen while it calves. The ice wall stands 38 metres; most of it is under you.
Day 06 The ice edge · 81°09′N
Where the sea stops being sea.
The captain pushes the bow into the pack until the floes close. Bears are spotted from the bridge first; nobody lands here.
Day 07 Alkefjellet · Hinlopen Strait
Sixty thousand pairs on one wall.
A basalt cliff 230 metres out of the sea, every ledge taken by Brünnich's guillemots. You hear it a mile before you see it.
Day 09 Bråsvellbreen · Nordaustlandet
A wall of ice that runs out of sight.
The southern face of the Austfonna ice cap. Meltwater pours off the top in falls; the ship runs along it for an hour.
Ship's log · MV Kittiwake27 June · 23:40 · 80°41′N 020°36′E
Wind north-west, force two. Pack ice sighted at 22:15 on the bow. Two bears on the floe to starboard, a sow and a yearling, moving east. Engines slow. One hundred and twenty-eight guests on the open decks and nobody talking. The expedition leader called the zodiacs off for the night; we will drift here until the fog lifts and try Phippsøya at six.
— Ingrid Ask, expedition leader, 14 seasons north of 78°
The route · day by day
Spitsbergen, Nordaustlandet and the ice, clockwise.
Chart · stereographicDay 01
The ship
MV Kittiwake
Ice class PC6, built at Ulstein in 2024 for 132 guests. Keep scrolling: the decks lift apart and every cabin on board is yours to pick.
- Length overall
- 118.6 m
- Ice class
- PC6 belt
- Open bridge
- 24 h
- Zodiacs
- 14
- Hybrid drive
- 4 knots silent
- Guests · crew
- 132 · 94
Pick a lit cabin on the ship. Dark ones are sold.
Departures 2027
Pick a sailing. The ice decides the rest.
Polar Line · cabin hold
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