Seabourn has held a launch ceremony for new expedition ship Seabourn Venture at a shipyard in Genoa ahead of its maiden voyage next year.

In line with maritime tradition, a ‘madrina’ – the Italian word for godmother – played a leading role at the ceremony on Wednesday.

The madrina role was filled by Jarda Versloot-West, Seabourn’s senior manager of expedition staffing.

She was joined by the line’s president Josh Leibowitz and T.Mariotti shipyard managing director Marco Ghiglione at the ceremony, where a bottle of Champagne was smashed against the hull.

The news comes after it was announced that the line had pushed back the scheduled UK launch of the 264-passenger ship until next year.

Seabourn Venture’s maiden voyage had been due to depart from Greenwich, London, in December, but will now depart from the same port on April 10, 2022.

The ship will now move from dry dock to an outfitting dock at the Italian shipyard, where it will undergo its final construction phase.

Leibowitz said: “This ceremony carries on a rich shipbuilding tradition, representing a significant step toward the launch of our first purpose-built ultra-luxury expedition ship.

“I receive notes from guests and partners across the travel industry on a regular basis, who eagerly await the arrival of this beautiful, very capable ship that will take them to places many people dream of visiting one day.

A yet-to-be named sister ship is also being built at T.Mariotti shipyard. Each vessel will carry two custom-built submarines, 24 Zodiacs, kayaks and a 26-person expert expedition team.