Select luxury travel advisors, senior Ponant staff and Travel Weekly, were all onboard when PONANT EXPLORATIONS welcomed the world’s only luxury icebreaker, Le Commandant Charcot, to Hobart on her inaugural call to Australia this week.
Arriving in Hobart at 4:15pm AEST on Saturday 14 February, Le Commandant Charcot concluded a landmark half-circumnavigation of Antarctica, sailing from Ushuaia through vast and rarely visited regions of East Antarctica, including Adélie Land, Wilkes Land, the Shackleton Ice Shelf and Queen Mary Land. The arrival marks the first time the next-generation polar vessel has called into Australia, underscoring Hobart’s role as a critical gateway for modern Antarctic exploration.
Special guests included luxury travel advisors from across the country, plus key state sales managers, alongside Patrick Augier who serves as the General Secretary and Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the PONANT Explorations Group, as well as John Shackleton, cousin of the great explorer.
“Le Commandant Charcot’s inaugural call to Australia marks a defining moment for polar exploration in our region,” Ponant CEO Asia Pacific Deb Corbett said. “With Australia now firmly positioned within PONANT EXPLORATIONS’ most ambitious journeys, it is an honour to welcome a ship that is truly unique and emblematic of a new era of Antarctic exploration.”
PONANT EXPLORATIONS also unveiled a world-exclusive Antarctic Circumnavigation itinerary for 2028. Learn more about the 2028 Circumnavigation itinerary HERE.
Following her Australian debut, the vessel will sail onward to Cape Town on Tuesday 17 February in the afternoon via the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, continuing a series of firsts that are reshaping what is possible in polar expedition cruising.
Ponant welcomes world’s only luxury icebreaker, Le Commandant Charcot, ‘home’ to Hobart
