SeaDream Orders Its First New Yacht in 25 Years at a Chinese Cruise Yard

SeaDream Yacht Club will build its first new yacht in 25 years at China Merchants Cruise Shipbuilding, with the 16,500 gt SeaDream III scheduled to enter service from Hong Kong in July 2029.

The 151.2-metre newbuild will have a beam of 21.8 metres and accommodation for 230 guests and 200 crew, though the operator's press material also gives capacity as around 200 guests while its more detailed technical documentation lists 230. She will use hybrid-electric propulsion with a large battery system. Guest accommodation is spread across five decks with private balconies on four, and the design includes a dedicated pool deck, expanded spa and fitness facilities, and three watersports marinas with direct access to the sea.

The project is in the engineering phase, with European suppliers expected to provide engines, technical equipment and other systems. That split, a Chinese hull with European machinery, has become the standard structure for smaller cruise newbuildings as European yards concentrate on larger vessels and their order books stretch out.

SeaDream III represents the next chapter for SeaDream, said founder and owner Atle Brynestad, a Norwegian entrepreneur.

The itinerary programme has been laid out well in advance. The first passenger voyage leaves Hong Kong on 10 July 2029 for a 10-night sailing through Japan's Ryukyu Islands and along the country's Pacific coast, arriving in Tokyo on 20 July, with a christening planned there on 21 July. The operator is also marketing a 27-night inaugural programme starting in Hong Kong on 10 July and continuing through Japan and South Korea until 6 August. It plans for the ship to visit six continents, 73 countries and 364 ports during her first 24 months, with a 180-night world voyage from West Palm Beach to London due to begin on 5 January 2031.

The new vessel is not a replacement. SeaDream I and SeaDream II will continue operating in the Mediterranean and Caribbean. Both were built in Finland in 1984 and 1985 and were most recently upgraded in 2023 and 2024. Each is 104.8 metres long, 4,333 gt, and accommodates 112 guests, which makes the newbuild roughly four times their gross tonnage and twice their guest capacity.

That step change is the significant part of the order. A family-owned operator founded in 2001, running two ships built four decades ago, is committing to a hull three times their size on a delivery date almost three years out, and starting the ship's career in Asia rather than in the Mediterranean where its existing fleet trades.