Ponant: Cruise to the North Pole
The North Pole is on everyone’s bucket list. But few of us get anywhere near. Mainly because of the faff of getting there, the fear of getting lost in a ferocious snowstorm and of dying of frostbite or from a haymaker of a left hook from a 1500 pound, 10’ tall polar bear.
And coming back freight. Or, not at all. We seek out ice floes, whale breaching and our Arctic experiences elsewhere. We like our home comforts and regular meal plans. Cannibalism shouldn’t be on the itinerary.
But Ponant’s Le Commandant Charcot, named after the French polar scientist, doctor, Olympic sailing silver medallist and leader of the 1904-7 French Arctic Expedition, Jean-Baptiste Charcot, is the world’s only luxury icebreaker and Polar Class 2 rate cruise ship.
Le Commandant Charcot
The Romanian-built , 492’, 15-knot hybrid polar expedition cruise liner now takes you and research scientists, resident geologists, glaciologists and a company of international naturalist guides to one of the most remote and inhospitable places on earth.
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 referred to as the True North Pole to distinguish it from the Magnetic North Pole. The nearest land is Kaffeklubben Island off Greenland and the nearest inhabited place probably Alert, 500 miles away in Nunavut, Canada.
The 17-day itinerary begins and ends in Norway in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, the northernmost town in the Arctic Circle, and a protected wilderness area in its own right. You sail 1,186 nautical miles to the North Pole.
The unique super-luxury cruise liner comes with a crew of 215, butlers, 123 staterooms/ suites including some with private jacuzzi and observation terrace and the super high0end “Shipowners Suite”, sixteen Zodiacs, a communal gym, indoor heated swimming pool, spa and sauna, massage therapists and aestheticians, Swarovski binoculars; a 270-seat multimedia theatre, two restaurants include Nuna ( Inuit for “earth” ) by Michelin three- starred Alain Ducasse, nine wine cellars, Champagne, caviar, foie gras, a Cigar and Cognac room. And full access to the bridge.
Le Commandant Charcot
The eco-conscious Charcot , which runs liquefied natural gas and low-sulphur diesel, is propelled and steered by two giant Azipods. The skipper or ice pilot, Geir-Martin Leinebø, the captained Norway’s naval icebreaker, KV Svalbard, which in 2019 became the first Norwegian vessel to reach the North Pole.
Sextants are no more. A helicopter scouts 40 miles ahead of the ship which has been fitted with a sonar the Sea Ice Monitoring System (SIMS). The vessel also has its own meteorological station on the top deck as well as £9.7m’s worth of research facilities.
There isn’t much to see. Which is not black or white. The most colourful things are the heavy drinkers in the Silak (Sky) bar. But there is masses to be taken in. Such as information on 1.8 million square miles of —young ice, pancake ice, ice cake, brash ice, fast ice and fast carving through which the boat sails. There is more open water now. The Arctic ice sheet has shrunk to about half its 1985 size. Many scientists predict it will be ice-free by the end of the 2030s.
Le Commandant Charcot
The ship visits Arctic beaches like Lomfjorden, the Brunnich’s guillemot colony of Alkfjellin, the reindeer herd on Palanderbukta, the 200 walruses on Kapp Lee and you can hike the black tundra of Burgerbukta with its one-half-inch-tall willow trees.
You can kayaking the ice floes of Ekmanfjorden. And plant your national flag at the North Pole. With bodyguards on hand who are trained in hand-to- claw combat. Definitely an amazing experience!
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