S/V Noorderlicht is a handsome 153 foot tall ship schooner and for many years has been a strong favourite with our polar team and our guests. She is the choice for those seeking an immersive, expert led expedition in the company of just 20 passengers. 

Built in 1910 of steel, she was originally a three-masted ship and spent much of her early life as a light-vessel on the Baltic. Aqua-Firma has a long heritage of sailing with S/V Noorderlicht in both Spitsbergen and Greenland where she continues to evoke the spirit of the great historic polar explorations.

Life aboard the Noorderlicht can be as relaxed or interactive as you wish. Although the professional sailing crew is in charge, the assistance of guests is welcomed in handling the sails, taking the helm or helping with the night watch. She offers a flexible itinerary with the aim to get off the ship each day for informative guided hikes or to explore glaciers and icebergs by zodiac.

Noorderlicht's traditional interior is cosy and comfortable inviting a keen onboard camaraderie. All cabins have upper and lower berths, with hot shower/toilets conveniently located nearby. She is centrally heated and has a spacious, wood panelled saloon - views are excellent from the cosy settee in the deckhouse.

Client Review:

"I chose this sailing ship because it would be a smaller group of fellow travellers, a smaller ship could more easily explore the fjords and I rather liked the idea of sailing. She was an excellent choice and the trip didn't just live up to expectations, it exceeded them in many areas.

The crew were friendly, cheerful, hard-working and efficient and the boat pretty well ran like clockwork …..copious quantities of food from a tiny kitchen, lots of variety and always tasty, and on many days a huge cake would miraculously appear mid afternoon.

I wanted to explore the area on foot and get up close to the wildlife and landscape…What really made the trip extra-special though was our expedition leader's depth of knowledge and enthusiasm for the landscape, wildlife and history of the Arctic region. He took us on some wonderful walks and each was very different, with several presentations and films in the evenings.

I have been very fortunate, I have visited many different and interesting places, but I can happily say that this trip was right up there with the best of them !"   

R Pitts