Last Thursday, July 29, Ponant took delivery of Le Commandant Charcot, the first hybrid electric polar exploration vessel powered by liquefied natural gas. The flag-changing ceremony took place at the VARD shipyard, a subsidiary of Fincantieri, in Norway.
It has taken six years of hard work to bring this unique vessel, the thirteenth in the PONANT fleet, to this point. The French company partnered with a wide range of experts in their respective fields to design and build this exceptional ship, including Stirling Design International, Aker Arctic, and VARD.
“The delivery of Le Commandant Charcot is both a culmination and the beginning of a new kind of odyssey for the company. The construction of this prototype vessel required extremely high standards of quality. I am proud of the work our teams have achieved. We welcome to our fleet a vessel that will offer much more than a voyage of exploration, but a truly inspiring and fascinating discovery of a still little-known polar world,” said Hervé Gastinel, CEO of PONANT.
An innovative ship designed for polar exploration
With just 123 cabins, Le Commandant Charcot is the first hybrid electric polar exploration vessel powered by LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas), a major innovation that reinforces the company's commitment to sustainable tourism. A PC2-class polar exploration vessel, its design incorporates the latest green technologies, such as 100% waste sorting and treatment on board. A "ship of opportunity," it will be equipped with research facilities and equipment, providing the scientific community with a platform for observation, research, and analysis to study the water, air, ice, and biodiversity of the extreme polar regions.
Guests will enjoy a range of activities including citizen science, expert lectures, kayaking, hovercraft, hiking, ice fishing, and more. With space to accommodate up to 245 guests, Le Commandant Charcot will sail to some of the world's most remote regions: the Geographic North Pole, Northeast Greenland National Park, the circumnavigation of the Svalbard archipelago, the Bellingshausen Sea, Charcot and Pierre I Islands, the Weddell Sea, and the Larsen Ice Shelf.
