The name – Latin for "Southern Wind" – reflects Tierra del Fuego's distinctive weather, a factor that has long determined the region's socio-cultural development and that so impressed the early mariners who endeavored to explore Patagonia's southernmost waterways. Tailor-made for exploring the remote southern tip of South America, all aspects of the 210-passenger ship including size, length, draft and engine power -- are designed to give Ventus Australis the extreme maneuverability necessary to navigate narrow fjords and channels where no other cruise ships can venture.