SHIP REPORT
The vessel has ice breaking technology and is powered by LNG.
Le CommandantCharcot LE COMMANDANT-CHARCOT IS THE FIRST HYBRID ELECTRIC ICEBREAKER. BY NAMING THE LATEST JEWEL IN ITS FLEET AFTER HIM, PONANT WANTED TO PAY TRIBUTE TO JEAN-BAPTISTE CHARCOT, AN EMBLEMATIC FIGURE OF THE first French polar expeditions. In the name of this ‘gentleman of the poles’, this revolutionary icebreaker will push the boundaries of sailing in the Arctic and Antarctic and write new pages in the history of cruise travel. ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF VARD, UNLESS MENTIONED OTHERWISE.
A
doctor, explorer, and exceptional sailor, Jean-Baptiste Charcot (1867-1936) launched the era of great French polar explorations. As early as 1902, he had already crossed the Arctic Circle and embarked on a long series of explorations that would take him from Greenland to Antarctica. Aboard his ship, the PourquoiPas?, Captain Charcot would expand our knowledge of the mysterious world of ice. Topographic studies, cartography, surveys of the seabed, oceanographic readings, studies of magnetism, collections of zoological and
botanical samples: the learnings from these scientific expeditions is vast. But this skilled sportsman, a rugby player and Olympic medal winner in sailing, was also a humanist, passionate about multi-cultural encounters with people of the icy North.
First of its kind
Le Commandant-Charcot is a hybrid electric polar exploration vessel with ice-breaking technology powered by LNG, a Polar Class PC2 ship that includes all the latest ‘green’ technologies such as 100% waste sorted on board and waste treatment. The vessel will be fitted with facilities and equipment for research, providing the scientific world with a platform for observation, research, and analysis to study water, air, ice, and biodiversity in extreme polar regions. Le Commandant-Charcot will be sailing in the world’s most remote regions: the Geographic North Pole, Northeast Greenland’s National Park, circumnavigation of the Svalbard archipelago, the Bellingshausen Sea, Charcot and Pierre I Islands, Weddell Sea, and the Larsen Ice Shelf.
Flag ceremony
A doctor, explorer and exceptional sailor, JeanBaptiste Charcot (1867-1936) launched the era of great French polar explorations.
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As Vard announced the delivery of Le Commandant-Charcot, a flag exchange ceremony took place on Thursday 29 July on the ship’s helideck. Attilio Dapelo, General Manager Business Unit Cruise at Vard, shares, “The delivery of this amazing vessel
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