New M/V Origin Sets the Standard for Sustainable Luxury in the Galapagos

Coming This April to Natural Habitat Adventures’ Galapagos Fleet 

The world’s premier nature travel company, Natural Habitat Adventures (Nat Hab), announces the addition of a brand-new ship to its Galapagos fleet. This is M/V Origin, a 142-foot, 20-passenger sustainable luxury yacht debuting in 2016. Origin’s arrival brings the company’s chartered fleet to four, offering the most varied slate of small-ship cruise adventures in the islands.

Providing elegant access to this privileged world, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where wildlife is unaffected by humans, Origin’s addition sets a new standard for luxury and environmental sensitivity among Galapagos ships.

“This ship helps fill our growing demand for top-end accommodations and rounds out the best and most comprehensive slate of small-ship trips in the islands,” said Ben Bressler, founder and president of Nat Hab.

Guests are accommodated in ten 140-square-foot staterooms with panoramic windows. From the privacy of these spacious cabins and a variety of outdoor viewing areas, guests on Nat Hab’s 10-day Classic Galapagos adventure will witness dolphins on display, magnificent frigate birds circling overhead and families of sea lions sunning on shore.

The new Origin offers the highest-end experience in Galapagos cruising, with gourmet meals featuring locally sourced and sustainably grown cuisine, a fully stocked courtesy bar, indoor and outdoor lounges, fitness center, Jacuzzi tub, topside sun deck with hammocks, settees and shaded bed-sized chaises, library and computer station. Joining the highly professional crew are a concierge, masseuse and culinary-school-trained kitchen staff.

Origin carries kayaks, stand-up paddleboards, snorkeling gear and wetsuits for a full complement of active ways to explore the islands. A Nat Hab exclusive on all of its Galapagos tours is an optional night ashore at Tortoise Camp in the highlands of Santa Cruz, the archipelago’s highest island where giant tortoises roam freely.

Designed to be the most environmentally sensitive yacht offered for commercial and private charter, M/V Origin offers optimal fuel efficiency, thanks to the latest sustainable construction techniques. This ship’s sustainable features reduce fuel consumption by 45 percent while cruising at 12 knots, a speed faster than other Galapagos vessels. This means its guests have more time exploring on shore.

Sustainability measures include the curved design of the bow, creating less drag for greater fuel efficiency; the bulbous keel on the stern of the ship that reduces friction and increases speed without increasing RPMs, thereby reducing fuel consumption; a fabrication that utilizes a lighter type of steel and special welding technique that results in a bigger ship with less weight, without compromising rigidity and safety; utilization of the latest fuel-efficient engine and generator technology; an onboard water treatment plant filtering more than 10,000 liters a day of gray and black water; and ecological marine toilets, as well as a special Sanimarin maceration pump, which requires less water in the black water tanks. 

Origin brings to four the number of small ships and cruising styles available for both pre-scheduled and custom charter departures on the company’s range of Galapagos trips that are offered year-round:

• Classic Galapagos is the company’s flagship adventure, an exclusive small-group exploration of the islands led by the Galapagos’ most highly trained guides.
• Galapagos Hiking & Kayaking Adventure is a more active approach to the islands utilizing special kayaking permits that provide extensive eye-level encounters with wildlife that few travelers experience.
• Family Galapagos Adventure is an exciting multigenerational discovery with a dedicated children’s guide who leads activities designed especially for kids.
• Galapagos Photo Adventure is guided by professional naturalist-photographers, whose expertise will help you take home outstanding wildlife images

Offering the lowest guide-to-traveler ratio in the Galapagos, all Nat Hab adventures feature small groups led by the islands’ best naturalist guides who provide a historic and scientific immersion in the multifaceted life of the archipelago. Itineraries are carefully designed for close-up wildlife viewing.

Most ships travel only to the southern or central islands, yet all Nat Hab Classic Galapagos itineraries, including the Origin, also visit Genovesa in the far north (the only place to see rare red-footed boobies) as well as Fernandina in the west, an active volcano that's home to flightless cormorants. For more details, please see http://www.nathab.com/galapagos/