A brand long known for trains and hotels is getting into luxury cruising in a unique way.
AccorHotels’ Orient Express brand is building what it claims will be the world’s largest sailing ship when it debuts in 2026. The 54-suite Silenseas will feature three SolidSail rigid sails able to rotate 360 degrees on tilting masts that are 320 feet tall. The ship is a joint venture between Accor and French shipbuilding company Chantiers de l’Atlantique.
The 54 suites will average 30 square feet and here will be 4,000-square-foot Presidential Suite that features a 1,739-square-foot terrace. There will be two restaurants, an amphitheater-cabaret, a bar and two swimming pools, including a lap pool.
Accor says the sails will be able to provide 100 per cent of the propulsion in “suitable weather conditions,” but the ship will have an engine running on liquefied natural gas. As technology improves, the company hopes to switch to a hydrogen energy system.
Sébastien Bazin, CEO of AccorHotels, told Bloomberg the Orient Express Silenseas is going to be more luxurious as than Ritz Carlton Yacht Collection’s newly launched Evrima and the ship will have much higher fares as a result.
“We’re not surprised to see others come into the space. We knew there would be other entrants from within ultra-luxury travel and it looks like a unique offering,” Douglas Prothero, CEO of The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, told Seatrade Cruise News.
The newcomers are part of a move by luxury hotel brands into the cruise market. In addition to Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons is building a 690-foot, 190-passenger yacht scheduled to be launched from Italy’s Fincantieri Ancona yard in late 2025, with a second ship also planned.
Aman Resorts has also announced plans for a 600-foot, 50 suite acht in a joint venture with Cruise Saudi in collaboration with T. Mariotti ship builders. Known as Project Sama, the as-yet unnamed ship is expected to launch in 2026.
