Helsinki Shipyard said that a project to build two 113 metre luxury expedition ships for Vodohod, a Russian company, remains on track.

“Helsinki Shipyard Inc. is currently working on the project of two luxury expedition vessels. The vessels are intended to operate both in the Arctic and Antarctic waters as well as in the tropical waters during the Spring and Autumn seasons. The project moves forward according to the plan and the shipyard already started the purchasing process of the equipment and materials,” the company said in a statement.

Vodohod placed the contract to build the ships with the Finnish yard that had previously been owned by the United Shipbuilding Corporation group of Russia, in July last year. The shipyard was acquired in May be Algador Holdings Ltd, a Cyprus based company controlled by Russian interests.

The two vessels will have a capacity of 157 passengers each and they will have Polar Ice class PC5. They are scheduled to enter service in 2021 and 2022, respectively.