French cruiseship owner Ponant has sent its first LNG-fuelled expedition vessel to the geographic North Pole.

The company said in a social media post that its 230-passenger, 11,000-gt newbuilding Le Commander Charcot had reached the Arctic outpost on 6 September saying it was "a first for a French ship, powered by LNG".

A spokeswoman for Ponant told TradeWinds that Le Commandant Charcot sailed with LNG throughout its journey from Tromso and is now using its electric batteries "in order to have zero emission at the geographic North Pole".