Le Commandant Charcot has set a new world record on Feb. 27 when it reached the latitude of 78°44.3’ South, the closet geographic latitude to the South Pole located in the Bay of Whales in the Ross Sea.
Captain Patrick Marchesseau, who was at the helm of Ponant’s 270-passenger ship, described the moment when the vessel reached this point.
He said: “The Bay of Whales was the point of departure for the Amundsen expedition which was the first to reach the South Pole on Dec. 14, 1911. The temperature was around -15°C. It was in this beautiful landscape, as striking as the cold which reigns here, that Le Commandant Charcot reached 78°44.3’ South, which is the closest geographical latitude to the South Pole by sea on the entire Antarctic continent.”
The latest addition to the Ponant fleet, Le Commandant Charcot is the first hybrid electric high polar exploration ship powered by liquified natural gas (LNG).
According to the cruise line, the ship signals the company’s “commitment to sustainable tourism and to minimizing the environmental impact.”
Ponant said that Le Commandant Charcot is also the only cruise ship to host researchers onboard and provide them with a dedicated scientific laboratory. With Le Commandant Charcot, Ponant is collaborating with the scientific world to collect data and gain new insights into these extreme polar regions, the cruise line noted.
