''Le Boreal'' is a

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...

owned and operated by the French

cruise line A cruise line is a company that operates cruise ships that operate on ocean or rivers and which markets cruises to the public. Cruise lines are distinct from passenger lines which are primarily concerned with transportation of passengers. Though ...

company Compagnie du Ponant. It cruises to Antarctica and other places.

Design and description

The vessel is in length, has 132 cabins and suites for 264 passengers and 136 crew members.

Construction and career

Completed in 2010, she is a sister vessel of , and . ''Le Boreal'' entered service on 6 May 2010. Between 25 February and 6 March 2018, video journalist and podcaster

Brady Haran Brady John Haran (born 18 June 1976) is an Australian-British independent filmmaker and video journalist who produces educational videos and documentary films for his YouTube channels, the most notable being ''Periodic Videos'' and ''Number ...

conducted an expedition to Antarctica aboard this vessel.

2015 engine room fire

On 18 November 2015 ''Le Boreal'' suffered a major engine room fire which caused the loss of all power and left her drifting. The captain ordered the ship, with 347 passengers and crew, to be abandoned early in the morning. A distress call was issued just after 2 a.m. while it was near

Cape Dolphin Cape Dolphin (Spanish: "Cabo Leal") is the most northerly point on East Falkland, Falkland Islands. It is the most northerly point of the two main islands, East and West Falkland, but many of the smaller islands, such as the Jason Islands The ...

, the northerly point of

East Falkland East Falkland ( es, Isla Soledad) is the largest island of the Falklands in the South Atlantic, having an area of or 54% of the total area of the Falklands. The island consists of two main land masses, of which the more southerly is known as La ...

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouzet ...

. The news agency reported that 90 of the ship's 347 passengers and crew were air-lifted to safety from

life raft A lifeboat or liferaft is a small, rigid or inflatable boat carried for emergency evacuation in the event of a disaster aboard a ship. Lifeboat drills are required by law on larger commercial ships. Rafts (raft, liferafts) are also used. In t ...

s. The

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

''L'Austral'' responded to the distress call and took on some passengers. Working closely with the

Falkland Islands Government The politics of the Falkland Islands takes place in a framework of a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary representative democratic dependency as set out by the constitution, whereby the Governor exercises the duties of head of state in th ...

, British forces enacted a major search and rescue plan. Two Sea King Royal Air Force Search and Rescue helicopters were scrambled, along with two other support helicopters, a

C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 ...

and a Voyager aircraft for command and control. The

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

patrol vessel was dispatched to the scene, as were two Dutch tugs which support British forces in the Falkland Islands. Subsequently, all passengers and crew from ''Le Boreal'' were accounted for and being looked after on the Falkland Islands. The vessel was later reported in a stable condition and the tugs were assisting to bring her alongside in the Falkland Islands for a detailed assessment of her condition. In March 2016, Ponant confirmed that ''Le Boreal'' would resume service in May. The investigators' report was released in July 2016, and attributed the fire to a ship's officer's misidentification of a clogged fuel filter; the report noted that the officer did not have a mechanic's rating, and Ponant subsequently changed several work rules in response to the report.

In popular culture

''Le Boreal'' was featured in episode three of the fifth season of the TV series ''

Mighty Ships ''Mighty Ships'' is a documentary television program produced by Exploration Production Inc. in Canada and aired on Discovery Channel Canada and also broadcast around the world. Each episode of the series follows a particular sea-going vessel a ...

''. The ship was shown taking tourists to

South Georgia South Georgia ( es, Isla San Pedro) is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. Stretching in the east� ...

and the

Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martín in Argentina, and originally as Graham Land in the United Kingdom and the Palmer Peninsula in the United States, is the northernmost part of mainland Antarctic ...

References

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

Compagnie du Ponant official site page about the ship
{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Boreal Ships built in Ancona Ships built by Fincantieri Ships of Compagnie du Ponant 2010 ships