Australian family-owned APT Travel Group has come up with a neat solution to a common problem: how do you launch your first purpose-built ocean ship when your expertise is river cruising? Split the ship in two — literally. The new vessel, due in April 2029, will be owned outright by APT but operated for half the year by Quark Expeditions, the polar specialist, before returning to the Mediterranean for a Travelmarvel summer season.

The as-yet-unnamed ship will carry roughly 160 to 170 guests across 99 suites, positioned as a four-star-plus yacht in Travelmarvel's premium small-ship tier. The shipyard hasn't been announced, and itineraries and pricing are still a few months away, according to Paul Melinis, APT's managing director for the UK and Europe.

The logic is straightforward. Expedition cruising to Antarctica and the high Arctic demands permits, guides and cold-water logistics that a river cruise company simply doesn't have in-house. Rather than buy an expedition brand or build that expertise from scratch, APT is renting Quark's — while keeping ownership of the asset. In return, Quark gets a brand-new ice-strengthened vessel for its polar seasons.

For the Mediterranean half of the year, APT is betting on demand for smaller ships. The company trialled the concept in 2025 with the Caledonian Sky, a former Kimberley expedition vessel, and it sold out completely. With bigger and bigger ships crowding the Med — ships carrying four or five thousand passengers — Travelmarvel sees a clear gap for something more personal.

There's a quiet shift in the target market too. Travelmarvel's river guests traditionally skew 65-plus, but the new ship is being aimed closer to 50 and up, informed by the slightly younger, more adventure-seeking crowd already booking its Croatia yacht sailings. Melinis isn't chasing a radical reinvention — loyal river customers remain the core — but the company hopes the ship introduces its small-ship style to a new audience.

It's part of a busy period for the brand, which recently added Rigel to its Rhine fleet and Sirius to the Nile. Interestingly, Melinis says there's no appetite for more river capacity in Europe — the growth story here is taking the small-ship model somewhere new and colder.

For travellers, the takeaway is worth noting: from 2029 there will be another sub-200-guest option in the Med, and a serious new entrant in polar cruising backed by one of the most established names in expedition travel. Details on routes and fares are still pending, but this is one to watch if you like your ships small and your seas either calm or frozen.