''Le Commandant Charcot'' is an

icebreaking An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to sm ...

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours know ...

operated by the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

shipping company Compagnie du Ponant. Named after the French polar scientist

Jean-Baptiste Charcot Jean-Baptiste-Étienne-Auguste Charcot (15 July 1867 – 16 September 1936), born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, was a French scientist, medical doctor and polar scientist. His father was the neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot (1825–1893). Life Jean-Bap ...

, the vessel was built at

Vard Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...

Tulcea shipyard in Romania, from where she was moved to Søviknes for final outfitting and delivery in 2021.

Description

''Le Commandant Charcot'' is a Polar Class 2 rated icebreaking vessel capable of reaching remote polar destinations such as the

Geographic North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Mag ...

. She features a hybrid power plant powered by

liquefied natural gas Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the v ...

(LNG) and 5 MWh electric batteries, capable of briefly driving the ship without engines running.

Design and construction

The ship was launched in March 2020 and left the yard in Romania on 29 March, heading for Norway. She arrived at VARD shipyard in

Søvik, Haram Søvik is a village and a regional service center in Ålesund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the northwestern part of Ålesund Municipality, along the sea, just southeast of the islands of Bjørnøya and Ter� ...

, Norway on 28 April 2020. In June 2021, she was in the

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada ( Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm ( Greenland), Finland, Iceland ...

for the first time during sea trials.

Career

After delivery on 29 July 2021, ''Le Commandant Charcot'' sailed from mainland Norway to Svalbard and from there to the Geographic North Pole, where she arrived on 6 September 2021. In December 2021, the ship went on a 16-day exploration cruise from

Ushuaia Ushuaia ( , ) is the capital of Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur Province, Argentina. With a population of nearly 75,000 and a location below the 54th parallel south latitude, Ushuaia claims the title of world's souther ...

, Argentina to the

Weddell Sea The Weddell Sea is part of the Southern Ocean and contains the Weddell Gyre. Its land boundaries are defined by the bay formed from the coasts of Coats Land and the Antarctic Peninsula. The easternmost point is Cape Norvegia at Princess Mar ...

and Antarctic Peninsula, allowing passengers to experience a

total solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six mon ...

from the Weddell Sea ice pack. In February 2022, ''Le Commandant Charcot'' collaborated with the

British Antarctic Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of global issues, and to provide an active presence in the Antarctic on ...

research vessel RRS ''Sir David Attenborough'' in Antarctica. The cruise ship, capable of breaking much thicker ice, created a channel for the research vessel in second-year ice covered with thick layer of snow in

Stange Sound Stange Sound () is a sound about 60 nautical miles (110 km) long and 25 nautical miles (46 km) wide along the coast of Palmer Land, Antarctica. An ice shelf occupies the sound, which is bounded on the west by Smyley and Case Islands, on ...

. In late July 2022, ''Le Commandant Charcot'' accompanied the Norwegian polar research vessel ''Kronprins Haakon'' to the North Pole.

References

External links

Official website
Ships of Compagnie du Ponant Icebreakers of France 2020 ships {{Cruise-ship-stub