Shipbuilding, maintenance & repair
The Seabourn Venture, Lindblad Expeditions’ first purpose-built luxury expedition vessel, is preparing to set sail in December 2021.
“When you start to design a vessel to go to the North Pole, simple features can be difficult,” says Tincelin. “For instance, where to place the helicopter pad and how to operate the helicopter on board.”
“For safety reasons, you have to be able to see where ice has accreted, but we could not put it at the stern where there are passenger areas and balconies,” he adds. “So, we had to move the helicopter forward to keep the passenger areas quiet. Also, we had to be able to fit 100% of passenger capacity in the lifeboats, which are large in comparison to the vessel itself.”
“Things changed fast. To go to the North Pole you need to be using LNG, hybrid electric power and batteries. We need that level of autonomy in case the ship is stuck in ice or there is a need for extreme power.”
Thibaut Tincelin
Green journeys into the blue Perhaps the biggest breakthrough in the design of polar cruise ships, however, is the propulsion system. In environmentally sensitive regions, the need to run green is paramount, but it must be achieved with the ability to harness ice-breaking power. Environmental factors are key elements for in the design of any vessel, whether it is travelling to the tropics or the arctic regions, but for polar excursions they are paramount.
Alternative fuels have become a major focus among cruise lines, as they work to reduce emissions across their fleets, but having a ‘green’ operational profile is essential when travelling to polar regions, partly due to the highly sensitive nature of their ecological systems, and partly because international regulations governing emissions have become more stringent in recent years – a trend that is likely to continue.
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It is a big challenge to make a cruise vessel that has minimal impact on the environment, particularly in a highly sensitive region such as the Arctic. For some, an 100% environmentally friendly ship does not exist. Le Commandant Charcot, however, raises that bar in terms of what is possible. At the heart of the propulsion system lie two vast LNG tanks giving the vessel two months of autonomous capability without the need to refuel. When possible, the vessel switches to its electric motor, bringing down emissions to a minimum but still generating enough power to carve a path through the ice.
“It is obvious now that LNG is the best and only option for such a ship, but six years ago it was a new idea,” says Tincelin. “Things changed fast. To go to the North Pole you need to be using LNG, hybrid electric power and batteries. We need that level of autonomy in case the ship is stuck in ice or there is a need for extreme power.” “The challenge is that you need to go through thick ice, which changes the engine loads a lot and very quickly,” he adds. “The ship can run on 50% of installed power, but using extreme power it can free itself from 2m of ice.”
Like many of the new breed of polar vessels, Le Commandant Charcot is laying down a new market in the design of ships capable of handling extreme low temperatures and thick ice, while maintaining the level of luxury and amenities cruise passengers have come to expect. It manages to be a true icebreaker while also translating the signature of a premium cruise line into its exterior and interior design.
“It was a steep learning curve for us and for Ponant,” Tincelin stresses. “There is a large technical risk involved in going to the North Pole and it was a tough road. But it has been a massive commercial success in terms of reservations.” As a new chapter in expeditionary cruises begins, the story of polar excursions will be written by a class of ship the like of which has not been seen before. ●
World Cruise Industry Review /
www.worldcruiseindustryreview.com
Lindblad Expeditions
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