The vessel was previously been registered as Clipper Adventurer, and was renamed as Sea Adventurer on 1 October 2012. She is the sister ship to Lyubov Orlova. Built in 1975 in the former Yugoslavia as Alla Tarasova, she underwent a $13 million refit in 1998 managed by Master Mariner AB, Sweden.
During the summer of 2009 Adventure Canada of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada carried passengers through the Northwest Passage on Clipper Adventurer.
On 27 August 2010, Clipper Adventurer ran aground on a supposedly uncharted rock in the waters of Nunavut's Coronation Gulf during a cruise. The collision damaged the ship's ballast and fuel tanks, leading pollution to be released into the Coronation Gulf. 128 passengers and 69 crew members were stranded until they were rescued by CCGS Amundsen.[3] It was later found that the rock was indeed a known hazard and had already been properly reported by the Canadian Hydrographic Service.[4][5]
The salvage job was awarded to Resolve Marine Group, a Florida-based Salvage company.[6] On 18 September 2010, the ship was successfully towed into Cambridge Bay.
The ship spent many years chartered by Quark Expeditions sailing to Antarctica. Quark announced that the ship would be decommissioned from their fleet in October 2024.[7]