She was originally named Society Adventurer, but after Discoverer Reederei was unable to take delivery of the vessel due to financial troubles, the completed ship was laid up at the shipyard for almost two years.

[9] Originally built to cater to the five-star luxury cruise market, interiors on Heritage Adventurer's six passenger-accessible decks were designed by the German architect Wilfried Köhnemann.

[8] The ship's propulsion system consists of two eight-cylinder MaK 8M453C four-stroke medium-speed diesel engines, each rated 2,940 kilowatts (3,940 hp) at 600 rpm, driving two controllable pitch propellers.

[3] The shipbuilding contract was awarded to Rauma Yards, a new Finnish company established in August of the same year following the disbanding of Rauma-Repola's shipyard group.

[10] The ship, launched on 5 January 1991 as Society Adventurer,[4] was intended for adventure-style cruises to remote destinations such as Antarctica and had, among other features, an ice-strengthened hull.

However, Discoverer Reederei was unable to take delivery of the vessel in the following summer due to financial troubles and also had to cancel a sister ship that had already been contracted.

[3][5] As a result, the ownership of the vessel was transferred to Rauma Yards's newly established Bahamas-registered subsidiary, Society Adventurer Shipping Company, on 7 June 1991.

[10] While on a lay-up at the yard, Society Adventurer was inspected by a number of parties interested in acquiring the vessel, among them the future president of the United States Donald Trump who visited Rauma in 1992.

[13] Society Adventurer was renamed Hanseatic on 23 March 1993,[14] becoming the fourth ship to bear the name, and the original blue-yellow-white Discoverer Reederei livery was replaced with the white hull and red decorative stripes.

[18] After concluding her career with Hapag-Lloyd, the vessel was drydocked at Blohm+Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Germany where a so-called duck tail sponson was added to the stern.

Finally, in October One Ocean Expeditions was forced to cancel an Antarctic cruise midway after the vessel could not be refueled due to the company's non-payment of outstanding debts.

Unknowingly to the crew, a green buoy marking a shallow shoal had not been removed after the previous navigating season and, over the winter months, had been moved to the northeast by about 200 metres (220 yd) by drifting ice.

[32][33] No injuries nor damage to the ship was reported, and the passengers were again taken to explore nearby islands on Hanseatic's Zodiac boats while awaiting evacuation.

[33][36] On 13 June 2013, a fire broke out in Hanseatic's engine room due to hot work in one of the ballast water tanks while the ship was in a drydock at the Bredo Shipyard in Bremerhaven.

Although the collision may have not been intentional ramming, the conclusion was nonetheless that the incident that led to the sinking of Naiguatá was the result of a deliberate act initiated by the Venezuelan Navy rather than an accidental occurrence.