Shipbuilding, maintenance & repair
challenges, many depending on a vessel's polar operation profile. Where a vessel is intended to operate – and in which seasons – will have a significant impact on its design parameters.
“The industry started to develop polar ships fi fteen years ago, but they were usually normal small vessels that had some reinforcement to comply with the IMO Polar Code.”
Thibaut Tincelin
Voices in the shipbuilding industry speak of bespoke design processes, starting with mapping out precisely where and when a vessel will travel within
polar regions to refine the design and co-ordinate the construction process to deliver a highly customised vessel. For example, cruises in the South Shetland Islands and North Antarctic Peninsula are very different to excursions to the North Pole in terms of the stresses they put on a hull. There is no one-size- fits-all solution for polar regions.
Back to the drawing board To meet the needs of a new and rapidly growing market segment, Vard was able to marry its long track record in building specialised vessels for polar regions, albeit primarily working ships, with its keen understanding of the cruise market. A Polar Class PC2 ship, Le Commandant Charcot incorporates all of the latest ‘green’ technologies, including the on-board sorting and treatment of 100% of its waste, and features facilities and equipment for research and analysis of water, air, ice and biodiversity in extreme polar regions. It also incorporates luxurious accommodation for cruise passengers. Thibaut Tincelin, CEO of Stirling Design, whose team was responsible for bringing the vessel from initial concept to the construction phase, informs me that Le Commandant Charcot has just returned from the North Pole and is soon to make harbour in Le Havre. Proven and ready for service, the vessel is seen by many in the industry as marking a new chapter in the design of expeditionary ships. A few days previously, Tincelin had received a photo from the vessel with the co-ordinates 90º latitude, 0º longitude – the North Pole. The moment filled his team with immense pride and a great sense of achievement, causing him to reflect on how the design of polar vessels has evolved. “The industry started to develop polar ships fifteen years ago, but they were usually normal small vessels that had some reinforcement to comply with the IMO Polar Code,” he observes. “Our first ships for Ponant were of this kind. With Le Commandant Charcot, we started six years ago with a blank page and asked how it would be possible to go to the North Pole in a safe manner. The ship is designed entirely for that purpose.”
Stirling has a relationship with Ponant that stretches back far beyond 2009, when Tincelin joined the company, and under the previous owner it had worked on all of the line’s new builds. That on-going relationship provided the bedrock for an ambitious project in
12 World Cruise Industry Review /
www.worldcruiseindustryreview.com
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