On the evening of 20 January 2013, the ship rescued a round-the-world yachtsman, Alain Delord, from his liferaft located 487 nautical miles SSW of Hobart (S49.47.93 E144.20.47) in the Southern Ocean.

The captain of the Orion, Mike Taylor, undertook the 1500 km rescue in moderate to rough seas from Antarctica's Commonwealth Bay.

In a race against time, the ship successfully tracked the sailor's emergency radio beacon and effected the rescue with just an hour of sunlight left.

It was to be equipped with an underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV), capacity for up to 24 scuba divers and oceangoing kayaks, with cruises to be accompanied by a National Geographic photographer.

In a statement in January 2015,[2] Lindblad surprised the industry by announcing that Orion would be based in Europe for the northern summer from 2016, ceasing Southern Hemisphere winter operations.