SunStone INFINITY class vessel © Ulstein

Seventh INFINITY class vessel reordered by SunStone

CruiseThe U.S.-based shipowner, SunStone Ships, goes for another cruise vessel in its INFINITY class. In May last year the order for this was cancelled after the yard decided they could not build it, but this has now obviously been solved and SunStone will receive their seventh and last INFINITY class vessel in August 2025.

All the vessels in this class are designed by Ulstein Design & Solutions AS. These vessels were the first to introduce the patented X-BOW design in the cruise industry, a solution that has been warmly welcomed by cruise passengers and crews alike.

"We are immensely pleased to announce that we have signed a new contract with the CMHI Haimen yard for the construction of a new X-BOW expedition cruise vessel of the ULSTEIN CX103 design", states Lars Ståle Skoge, commercial director at Ulstein Design & Solutions.

Customised with bow windows
Although all the vessels in this class are designed on the same platform, being 104.4 metres long and 18.4 metres wide, they are all customised to accommodate a varying number of passengers and crews, and the public spaces are also carefully designed according to the client's request. This new vessel shares the feature of three other vessels in the INFINITY class on having windows all around the bow lounge to give lot of light and a feeling of being in the nature whilst indoors.

Bringing the outdoors inside
Tomas Tillberg Design is responsible for interior design.

"Our main focus is to bring the outdoors inside, capitalizing on the big windows like the two-story atrium ones and especially the spectacular FWD bow windows that Ulstein made possible thus furthering the small ship to a big ship feeling," states Tomas Tillberg.

Vessel facts
The vessel holds accommodation for 199 passengers, and a crew of 101. She is ICE CLASS 1A certified for polar cruising, holds the highest comfort class, and is SOLAS* certified including a Safe Return to Port passport.

SunStone Boundless class is next
SunStone's next project will be to build up to 10 next-generation expedition vessels in China from what they name as the Boundless class. These are slightly larger than the INFINITY class, having a length of 125m and capacity for 260 passengers in 130 cabins, all with balconies.

The Boundless Class is designed by SunStone with naval architecture completed by OSK-ShipTech. The interior will be designed by Steen Friis, Tillberg Design USA, or designers of the charterer’s choice and built/installed by European interior contractors. Furthermore, all technical equipment will be delivered by well known European suppliers.

The lead ship in this class is expected to be delivered in September 2025, with the remaining vessels following at two ships per year.