Le Jacques Cartier

Le Jacques Cartier
Le Jacques Cartier leaving Marseille, 30 October 2021
History
Wallis and Futuna
NameLe Jacques Cartier
OperatorPonant
Port of registry Mata Utu
Builder
  • VARD Tulcea, Romania (hull)
  • VARD Søviknes, Norway (outfitting)
Laid down4 April 2018
Acquired10 July 2020
Identification
StatusIn service
General characteristics
Class & typePonant Explorers-class cruise ship
Capacity184 passengers

Le Jacques Cartier is the sixth ship of the Ponant Explorers class of cruise ships operated by Ponant. Each member of the class has been allocated the name of a famous French explorer. Initially, the sixth ship in the class was named Le Surville, after Jean-François-Marie de Surville, a French trader and navigator. However, before entering service she was renamed Le Jacques Cartier, after Jacques Cartier, a French-Breton explorer.

Ponant's order for Le Surville (as she was then named) and a sister ship, the fifth of the class, was announced in March 2018. The hull of each ship was constructed by VARD in the builder's Tulcea yard in Romania; the steel cutting ceremony for both ships took place on 4 April 2018. Upon completion, the hulls were transferred to the builder's Søviknes facility in Ålesund, Norway, for final outfitting.

Following her renaming, Le Jacques Cartier was delivered to Ponant on 10 July 2020.