Le Lapérouse

Le Lapérouse is the lead ship of the Ponant Explorers class operated by Ponant, named after the French naval officer Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse, following the class tradition of naming vessels after famous French explorers. Built by VARD with its hull constructed in Romania and outfitting completed in Norway, the ship entered service with Ponant and began her maiden cruise from Iceland. In an incident related to COVID-19 border restrictions, New Zealand's Immigration Minister defended the country's decision to deny visa exemptions to the ship's hospitality crew and instruct the vessel to return its staff to New Caledonia before re-entering New Zealand waters.