LE COMMANDANT CHARCOT

The very first luxury icebreaking cruise vessel with LNG propulsion.

Le Commandant Charcot features a modern Polar Class 2 icebreaking hull, which combines smooth icebreaking ahead in up to 2.5-metre-thick multiyear ice, and astern in severe ice conditions such as heavy ice ridges using the Double Acting Ship (DAS™) principle. The vessel’s performance is comparable to existing polar icebreakers, but with lower ice resistance ensuring better fuel economy.

Aker Arctic developed the vessel concept together with Stirling Design International and the luxury expedition cruise company Ponant.

Le Commandant Charcot was built by Vard with the steel hull constructed in Romania, while final outfitting and commissioning were done in Norway. The vessel was delivered in July 2021.

Learn more about this project

We invite you to explore the story of this project in greater depth through our Arctic Passion News blog.
There, we share insights, background, and behind-the-scenes details that bring the project to life from different perspectives. Find a selection of related articles with a link to continue reading:

Le Commandant Charcot – from dream to icebreaking reality

5.11.2025

This article tells the story of how Ponant’s bold vision of reaching the North Pole with a luxury cruise ship became reality through collaboration with Aker Arctic.
It follows the journey from concept and ice studies to design, construction, and ice trials of the world’s first Polar Class 2 cruise ship. The article highlights the vessel’s pioneering double-acting hull, advanced propulsion, and sustainability features, showing how innovation, engineering expertise, and partnership turned an impossible idea into a groundbreaking achievement in polar ship design. See the full story →