A luxury polar discovery passenger vessel, the first of its kind in the world which the Pula-based Uljanik shipyard is building for Australian shipowner Glen Moroney, left the Uljanik shipyard on Thursday morning to be docked in the Rijeka-based Viktor Lenac shipyard.

According to sources in Uljanik, this is a regular procedure in the final stage of building a ship and docking is necessary to carry out checks and supervision of underwater works and to paint the vessel.

In normal circumstances, this would be good news because it would mean that the dock is a step away from delivering another ship. However, given Uljanik’s current dire situation, it is feared that the vessel will not be returning to the Pula-based dock.

According to information from Uljanik, however, the ship is expected to return to Pula in two weeks.

The liner, named Scenic Eclipse, will be able to accommodate 409 people, including crew, and is built for sailing on all seas, including polar and tropical regions, for which it is specially equipped, Uljanik said. It is specially “strengthened” to navigate in harsh weather conditions and frozen seas, and satisfies the requirements of high environmental standards. It also has a mini submarine for underwater adventures as well as two helicopters for exploring inaccessible areas.

Uljanik signed the contract for the ship with a company in the Scenic Group in November 2015.

When completed, the vessel will be 165.70 meters long, 21.50 m wide and will be able to reach a speed of 17 knots. The number of passengers is limited to 237, with 172 crew members. The ship is intended for the highest class of passengers who will enjoy 114 luxury cabins, while there will be 138 no less luxurious cabins for the crew.