It is a 104 m (341 ft 2 in) expedition ship with a state of the art x-bow design which has a piercing effect on smaller waves, making for a smoother ride.

[1] The ship was named after the Australian mountaineer, polar explorer and founder of Aurora Expeditions, Greg Mortimer.

[2] Mortimer arguably became best known as one of the first two Australians (with Tim Macartney-Snape) to successfully climb Mount Everest, on 3 October 1984.

[3] On 7 April 2020, the cruise ship, which holds up to 216 passengers,[4] became stranded in South American waters, asking for help after people exhibited symptoms such as fever, which prompted authorities to ban them from disembarking.

[6] The ship received permission to dock and Uruguayan authorities arranged an evacuation flight to Australia and New Zealand.