Silversea Cruises has named Felicity Aston MBE as the godmother of its new ship Silver Endeavour. The ship’s godmother blesses the vessel for good fortune during its official naming ceremony. Aston will officially name Silver Endeavour as part of an intimate ceremony in Antarctica—to be held in the days before the ship’s inaugural voyage, departing on November 21.
Aston is a polar explorer, author, television presenter and climate scientist. She became the first woman to ski solo across Antarctica in 2012, as well as the first person to traverse the continent by muscle power alone. Aston has since been awarded the Polar Medal and has been appointed MBE for services to exploration.
In a career that has spanned over 20 years, Aston has undertaken many expeditions, often as the leader of groundbreaking trips—including that of the first British women’s team to cross the Greenland ice sheet, as well as record-breaking teams of women on ski expeditions to both the South and North Poles. Aston’s longest and most formative tenure in Antarctica involved a 39-month stint at the Rothera Research Station from 2000, where she was monitoring climate and the ozone layer as a meteorologist for the British Antarctic Survey. Now based at the National Oceanography Centre and University of Southampton in the U.K., where she is investigating airborne microplastic pollution on polar sea ice, Aston’s work has plugged data gaps, reshaping scientific understanding.
In 2023, Aston will continue her leadership of the B.I.G. (Before It’s Gone) North Pole expedition, a long-term project to collect material for crucial Arctic Ocean sea ice research. She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in London and The Explorers Club in New York, as well as an elected member of the Society of Women Geographers.
“I am honored to have been selected as the godmother of Silver Endeavour–a beautiful ship that will introduce countless travelers to the magnificent allure of the Polar Regions,” said Aston. “With each of my expeditions, I am driven to push boundaries, to explore new frontiers, and to experience the planet’s most spectacular places. Guests traveling aboard Silversea’s newest ship will exercise these same ambitions with the charting of each course, the launching of every Zodiac, and the arrival in each destination. She is a vehicle for discovery in every sense of the term and I am excited to sail to the Polar Regions in such comfort.”
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