The Ortelius was built in 1989 in Gdynia, Poland, as Marina Svetaeva for the Russian Academy of Sciences . She served the academy as a work and research ship. In 2005 the ship was rebuilt and modernized. Since the end of 2011 it has been used as the Ortelius by Oceanwide Expeditions for polar and expedition cruises.
Namesake
The ship is named after the Flemish geographer Abraham Ortelius (1527–1598) who published the first modern world atlas in 1570 with the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum . At the time of going to press it was the most expensive printing unit that was ever produced.