Naviera y Turismo Skorpios S.A. is a family enterprise founded in 1978 by Constantino Kochifas Cárcamo, a shipbuilder and outstanding entrepreneur from the South of Chile, who developed this family tourist business , using his creativity and professionalism to turn it into a national and international product. At present, the company has one of the largest shipping fleets in the Southern Cone, consisting of 2 tourist vessels and more than 30 cargo ships, a shipyard and a naval machine shop; thermal springs in Fiordo Quintralco; offices in Santiago, Puerto Montt, Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales. All this infrastructure makes the company self sufficient and the leading tour operator in Patagonia.
The shipbuilder Constantino Kochifas Cárcamo began his activities as a regional coastal trade operator in the area of Puerto Montt in 1956, together with his brothers. He later started to operate independently and created his own shipping company with cargo vessels sailing in the region of Aysén. This led him to discover the potential of tourist ships in Patagonia, and he founded Cruceros Marítimos Skorpios . He opened his cruises to the glaciar San Rafael in 1976, on a small cargo ship called M/V Mimí, which carried 12 passengers per cruise. He then built M/V Skorpios I in 1978, the company’s first tourist vessel and the first tourist vessel to operate in Chile, she was withdrawn from service in the southern channels in 2008 after having completed more than 600 cruises to Laguna San Rafael and other places in Chile that are part of the most attractive tourist circuits in the world.
M/V Skorpios II was launched in 1988, with a maximum capacity of 106 passengers, making it the largest vessel in the Skorpios fleet; it currently covers the same route as M/V Skorpios I, or Chonos Route. In 1995, the company launched a new ship, M/V Skorpios III, which can hold 90 passengers. In 2003 Cruceros Skorpios extended its operations to the Magellanic region, opening a new tourist route, known as the Kaweskar Route, that takes us to the glaciers of the Southern Ice Fields, sailing from Puerto Natales to the Southern Ice Fields. M/V Skorpios III was transferred to Puerto Natales, where a terminal was built for it.
Our mission is to turn Chile and Patagonia into a great international tourist destination, by offering a top-level professional tourist cruise service, faithfully conserving the hospitality of the people of Patagonia and giving added value to the service we offer our clients, which is a daily challenge for each and every of our staff members. To continue our tourist development in Patagonia, offering professional services to visit our beautiful landscape, investing in the development of the area, always maintaining the balance between nature and service so as to be able to enjoy it without interfering with the environment.
