Le Laperouse, the first of four new Ponant Explorer-class ships, has arrived at a VARD facility in Norway for final outfitting after moving north from a shipyard in Romania.

The ship hit the water on Dec. 18, 2017 and was towed to Norway. The shipyard in Romania constructed the hull and superstructure, and did significant steel work, while the Norway facility will now take over the final hotel execution. 

Le Lapérouse will launch in June, followed by Le Champlain, set for delivery in autumn 2018. Le Bougainville and Le Dumont-d’Urville will be operational in 2019. All four ships will have capacity for 180 guests and will help drive capacity growth for the French luxury brand, which will have a fleet of nine vessels by the end of 2019.