Silversea considering expanding...

The cruise line has already seen a 56% increase in capacity since the pandemic

Silversea is to explore opportunities for additional new builds as it looks to update older hardware and grow its expedition offering, its president confirmed.

The line has seen a 56% increase in capacity since the start of the pandemic, with five ships, including newest vessel Silver Nova, joining the fleet since 2020.

Nova will be followed by sister ship Silver Ray, set to launch in July 2024, and brand president and chief executive Barbara Muckermann said Silversea is likely to decide on options for Nova 3 and 4 by the end of this year.

Muckermann said the team “deserved time to breathe and digest current growth” but confirmed she would be “looking at new building opportunities”.

“I would absolutely love to see more growth in expedition,” she said. “Expedition remains at the centre of our strategy. We will be looking at new building – we are always looking for new opportunities and one of the reasons for that is because we really need to update our older hardware.

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Muckermann added: “You can’t have a ship like [Nova] in the market and be competing with a ship of 20 years. There is a moment when you really need to start looking at new opportunities and there comes a point where there's too much of a gap. A leading brand like Silversea will continue to work on new hardware across ocean and expedition.”

Royal Caribbean Group president and chief executive Jason Liberty reaffirmed Muckermann’s sentiment, saying: “We feel very strongly that the ultra-luxury space and the expedition space are very much in demand, the expectation is that we will continue to grow and be the leaders in that space.”