Cruise ship claims Antarctic record

PONANT Cruises’ ice-strengthened expedition ship Le Commandant Charcot is believed to have set a new record for the furthest southerly penetration by a cruise ship. 

According to a travel diary carried by the New Zealand Herald the vessel achieved the new benchmark during a 30-day circumnavigation of Antarctica that left from Lyttelton, New Zealand. 

Diarist Debbie Pappyn noted that while other cruise ships are obliged to turn around when challenging ice conditions prevail, the 150 x 28-metre, 2001-built Le Commandant Charcot is a Polar Class 2 icebreaking vessel capable of breaking through multi-year ice up to 2.5m thick. It is also hybrid-electric, powered by LNG and electric batteries, with an autonomy of up to one and a half months.  

On this voyage the ship is ‘commanded’ by Captain Stanislav Devorsine, also  known as “Captain Stan”, said to be one of the world’s most experienced “ice captains and pilots” who has spent 10 years sailing back and forth to Antarctica on the French icebreaker/supply L’Astrolabe, resupplying research stations from Hobart. 

Early in the trip the vessel passes over the magnetic South Pole and then approached the Antarctic mainland, passing or pausing at Commonwealth Bay, Cape Denison, George V Land, Cape Adare, Scott’s Hut, Mt Erebus, Bay of Whales and the Ross Ice Shelf. 

It is at the latter Ms Pappyn reports that Capt Devorsine “manages to push the Charcot farther south than any ship has ever been, reaching a new record of 78° 44’ 2.51” South.” 

Le Commandant Charcot completes its circumnavigation via the Amundsen Sea, Siple Island, Bellingshausen Sea and Pine Island Bay, dealing with 80% pack ice and fragmented sea ice, before crossing the Drake Passage and completing the voyage in Ushuaia, Argentina. 

Le Commandant Charcot’s next Antarctic expedition will depart from Hobart on 26 February 2026. The 28-day voyage will travel to East Antarctica and conclude in Cape Town, South Africa. Prices start at an affordable $90,000 per person.