The Gulf War Strands the Historic Liner St Helena and Costs Her a New Career
The 1990-built former Royal Mail Ship is stuck near Port Rashid and cannot reposition for the Antarctic season
The start-up Terra Nova Expeditions has been forced to change its plans for its first Antarctic expedition cruise season, abandoning the historic liner St Helena and chartering a replacement.
St Helena was built at the Appledore Shipyard in the UK and commissioned in 1990. She is 344 feet long and approximately 6,800 gross tons, makes 14 knots, and provided a vital service to the island whose name she carries, more than 1,100 miles west of Africa. Running primarily between Cape Town and Saint Helena and on to Ascension Island, she was one of the last Royal Mail Ships in service and the island's only link to the outside world before an airport was built. The introduction of air service ended her role, and she was retired in 2018 despite protests from a loyal following.
She then avoided the scrappers twice over. She was briefly used as a vessel-based armoury in the Gulf of Oman, and was later sold to the racing series Extreme E, which used her to transport materials and cars and extensively renovated her in 2022, retrofitting her engines, updating her systems and refurbishing her cabins and public spaces.
Terra Nova Expeditions emerged in 2025 saying it had chartered the ship and was refitting her for Antarctic voyages in the 2026 to 2027 season, with the first sailing planned for December 2026. The company has now reported that she is unable to reposition from the Persian Gulf safely and in time for the start of the season because of the situation in the Middle East. Her AIS transmissions place her, registered in Djibouti, in the Dubai area, last reported near Port Rashid.
After several months seeking an alternative, the company has secured a three-year seasonal charter for the vessel that formerly operated as Expedition and G Expedition, which it will rechristen Terra Nova Adventurer. The replacement has an extensive record of expedition cruising in Antarctica, the Arctic and other remote destinations, having sailed for the Canadian operator G Adventures since being rebuilt for the trade in 2008. At 6,333 gross tons she started life as a passenger car ferry in the Baltic, built in 1972, and currently appears to be laid up as Vestland Adventurer under the Liberian flag.
The company will carry out enhancements before her first season, including new soft furnishings and décor, remodelled bar and lounge areas and the addition of a jacuzzi and sauna on Deck 5. Its Antarctic itineraries and expedition programme will continue as planned, and the ship stays with the company through the 2028 to 2029 season under the charter.
The fate of St Helena is less clear. A 36-year-old passenger ship stuck outside a blockaded strait, with no charter, no service and a flag of convenience registry, is in the position from which most ships of her age do not return.
