According to Ponant, Le Commandant Charcot reached the location on September 12, becoming the first ship to reach the legendary North Pole of Inaccessibility.
While taking the Transpolar route from Nome, Alaska, to Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen, the 150 meters long LNG-powered vessel also crossed the Magnetic North Pole on September 13 and the Geographic North Pole on September 15.
On board, 20 international scientists are on a mission to collect critical data in this unexplored area, Ponant said.
Ponnant noted the North Pole of Inaccessibility is defined as the point on the vast Arctic Ocean that is furthest from land.
First described in 1909 by the Russian polar explorer Alexander Koltchak, the exact geographic coordinates were established in 2013 by Jim McNeill with the help of NASA and satellites: 85°48’ North, 176°09’ East.
It is located at 1,465km from Utqiasuk in Alaska, 1,390km from Franz Josef Land in Russia and 1,070km from Ellesmere Island in Canada.
For comparison the Geographic North Pole is around 700km from land.
In 1927, Hubert Wilkins flew over this Pole of Inaccessibility for the first time in a plane, but no-one had ever set foot on it, Ponant claims.
Delivered in 2021
In July 2021, Norway-based Vard, a unit of Italy’s Fincantieri, delivered Ponant’s LNG-powered vessel.
Vard completed the luxury vessel at its yard in Søviknes, Norway. The ship designed for intense polar explorations previously arrived from Vard Tulcea in Romania.
Featuring a 270-passenger capacity, Ponant claims this is the world’s first LNG-powered, hybrid-electric passenger vessel to navigate in polar waters.
In addition, the BV-classed ship has Icebreaker 3 and POLAR CAT-A service notations, and features POLAR CLASS 2.
The vessel has Wartsila’s dual-fuel engines and also two GTT’s Mark III membrane technology tanks for a total capacity of 4500 cbm, enabling it to complete its entire voyage on LNG.
