Ponant is making moves when it comes to being the most sustainable expedition operator.

On a growth track, Ponant will take delivery of six Explorer-class ships over 24 months, culminating with the final two ships in 2020.

The entire company’s fleet now runs on low-sulfur marine gas oil (MGO).

The 270-guest Le Commandant Charcot will join the fleet in 2021 and be powered by both battery packs and liquefied natural gas.

“Our ambition is to be the reference point for the sustainable development of the cruise business,” said Herve Bellaiche, executive vice president of sales.

Not only is the fleet sailing on MGO, but single use plastics are long gone and LED lighting is in use across the fleet. The new ships also carry the footprint for shorepower.

“Most of the ports we visit don’t have the possibility to plug in,” said Bellaiche, adding that the company was looking to help fund shorepower installations.

Ponant ships now also feature remotely-operated hull cleaning, carrying essentially robots that will clean the hull.

“We see real actions making a difference,” continued Bellaiche.

The French brand’s four-year environmental roadmap aims to reduce CO2 emissions by 5 percent per guest, NOx emissions by 10 percent, and SOx emissions by 90 percent per guest.

There are also goals to lower waste by 5 percent per guest, and reduce energy used for navigation by 3 percent per guest on the company’s already highly-efficient ships.

A new environmental endowment fund was recently announced, with a goal of preservation of the oceans, Polar Regions and for people-to-people exchanges. The objective is to support up to a dozen initiatives per year.

So far, the company has committed to the Plastic Odyssey, aiming to turn plastics into energy; the Aldabra Clean Up Project, cleaning up plastic waste on the Aldabra atoll; and the ‘FabLab’ association of Upernavik (Greenland), helping to train artisans from the local Inuit community.