PONANT EXPLORATIONS’ Le Commandant Charcot will visit Australia for the first time in February 2026 as the final destination of an Antarctic semi-circumnavigation, and the starting point of an exploration of Eastern Antarctica.
The Unexplored Antarctica between Two Continents itinerary will depart Ushuaia, Argentina on 16 January 2016, arriving in Hobart, Tasmania on 15 February 2026. Visiting some of the lesser-known islands in the world including Charcot Island and the islands of Marie Byrd Land, the voyage will follow the history of the conquest of the South Pole. Le Commandant Charcot’s previous visits to the Oceania region have seen the vessel call at Lyttelton, New Zealand.
The cruise line’s exploration of the White Continent will then continue with a now fully booked Antarctic leg – the Unexplored East Antarctica & French Southern Lands itinerary. Embarking in Hobart, Tasmania on 17 February, the voyage through the drifting icebergs of the Southern Ocean will finish up in Cape Town on 17 March 2026. From there, it will make it’s way north via Brest for its Arctic season.
Subscribe to LATTE Cruise’s free eNewsletter to keep up to date with everything in the luxury cruise space.
The ship’s captain flagged the new route on a short video addressing the Virtuoso ANZ Forum, held in Perth last month.
“Now we have three years experience of Le Commandant Charcot we are able to go a bit further,” Captain Patrick Marchesseau said, adding that even greater adventures are yet to come. “We are presently working on an itinerary for a total circumnavigation around Antarctica.”
The luxury ice-breaker, which launched in 2021, has been a game-changer for polar exploration, according to PONANT.
“Le Commandant Charcot is the only vessel that can take guests as far as the geographic North Pole and even beyond the Antarctic Circle,” PONANT State Manager for Victoria and Tasmania Annabelle Brown, who recently sailed aboard the ship, said.
“It’s not an expedition ship, it’s an exploration ship. You’ve probably been on an expedition cruise before – this is different,” Brown added.
