Philippe Videau, president of Exploris Expeditions & Cruises, has shed light on the liquidation of the company via an interview with Mer et Marine.

After being placed into administration in early October, the French cruise line is ceasing its operations later this week.

Videau told the French website that, after a difficult start Exploris was seeing its business grow significantly in 2025.

“In 2024, we generated 11 million euros in revenue with 1,100 individual passengers, and in 2025, we were on track to reach nearly 20 million euros and almost 2,000 passengers,” he said, pointing to a 17 percent increase in Antarctica.

Exploris launched service in late 2023 with the 1989-built Exploris One, which was acquired from Silversea.

For 2026 and beyond, the company was working on signing charter contracts that would ensure a steady flow of cash.

“Strategically, the tactic was to operate the ship for slightly more than half the year through chartering, which provided a solid financial foundation, allowing us to reassure everyone, starting with our bankers, and to work on our pricing and increasing our profitability, as well as our new ship project,” Videau explained.

The company inked multi-year deals with U.S.- and Canada-based tour operators, which would charter the Exploris One for roughly 160 days in 2026.

“This way, since we would have had fewer cruises to fill, we would have significantly improved our results as early as 2026. But everything fell apart because of the Canadians,” Videau told Mer et Marine.

He added that the company decided to cancel its agreement in early September, leaving Exploris in a challenging financial position.

“It was a real blow, especially since this money was intended to finance the ship’s scheduled maintenance in the Canary Islands, and the Antarctic season was looking very promising.”

In addition to pursuing charter opportunities, the company was also looking into a partnership with a unnamed German ship manager, Videau told Mer et Marine.

He noted that Exploris considered a merger with the manager, which would acquire the Exploris One and take a stake in the company.

Videau said that the negotiations went well, but the German company decided to withdraw from the deal in early summer.

“Unfortunately, the partners, myself included, were unable to raise the necessary funds to weather the storm,” Videau noted.

“We therefore looked externally, and during the administration process, several parties expressed serious interest in investing in the company,” he continued.

As previously published by Cruise Industry News, Exploris was reportedly looking for a 4 million-euro investment to maintain its operations.

“However, it would have taken some time for these deals to materialize. That’s why we asked the court to extend the observation period, which was unfortunately denied. Ultimately, due to delays in the publication of certain administrative documents, the actual time we had to find a solution was only about two weeks, which was far too short,” Videau added.

While the Exploris One is currently laid up off the port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in Spain, Exploris is closing its offices and officially ceasing operations on Nov. 7, 2025.

“The ship was very popular, as were the itineraries, the expedition team, and the product offered. Passengers felt right at home on board. The satisfaction rate is also very high,” Videau said.