Commissioned by Lars-Eric Lindblad , the Swedish-American pioneer of exotic expedition tours , the Explorer was built in 1969 at Nystads Varv shipyard in Uusikaupunki , Finland . The Explorer was commissioned by Lars-Eric Lindblad , the Swedish-American pioneer of exotic expedition tours , and built in 1969 at Nystads Varv shipyard in Uusikaupunki , Finland .