The French polar sailing vessel Persévérance, a purpose-built ocean-going schooner designed for year-round operations in the Southern Ocean, was in Lyttelton Port during January, conducting sea trials before heading for the ice.

Developed by VPLP Design in collaboration with naval architect Olivier Petit, who also designed Antarctica (now Tara), the 42-metre aluminium vessel features a reinforced hull for ice-edge navigation, a stern launching ramp for tenders, and the capacity to transport scientific equipment and personnel in some of the world’s harshest seas.

Persévérance plays a central role in the French‑led Polar POD programme. In addition to serving as the supply ship for Jean‑Louis Étienne’s future drifting oceanographic station, she also functions as a mobile scientific platform.

Equipped to support researchers and advanced instrumentation, the vessel collects ecological and atmospheric data vital to understanding fragile Antarctic and sub‑Antarctic ecosystems, including work on plankton communities and trace gases.