Yersin is a 77m steel-hull expedition yacht launched in 2015 by Piriou in Concarneau, France, with hybrid diesel-electric propulsion, ice-class notation, and a publicly stated cruising range of 12,000 nautical miles at 12 knots. She is owned by French entrepreneur François Fiat and named for Alexandre Yersin, the French-Swiss bacteriologist who isolated the plague pathogen in 1894 and lived much of his later life in Vietnam. As of May 2026 her charter availability is irregular and her primary use is owner-and-research, not commercial charter.
Yersin is the rarest case in the explorer-yacht market: a yacht built by a commercial shipyard to commercial-vessel standards, with a yacht interior bolted on top, and operated as a research platform with conventional luxury-yacht crew capability. She is what the rest of the explorer-yacht market markets itself as, and rarely is. If you are reading this because you saw her at anchor in Reykjavik or in Ushuaia and asked the question, the next step is to understand that she is not a yacht you charter the way you charter Cloudbreak or Planet Nine.
What Yersin actually is
Built by Piriou, a French shipyard with a long history in offshore supply, fishery patrol, and naval vessels, Yersin is a ship dressed as a yacht. Her hull form, propulsion architecture, redundancy, and damage-control standards are commercial-vessel grade. Her interior, deck flow, and guest amenities are yacht-grade. The combination is rare. Most explorer yachts are one or the other.
The verifiable spec, with markers where confirmation is needed:
| Spec | Value |
|---|---|
| LOA | 76.6m |
| Beam | 13.5m |
| Draft | 4.4m |
| GT | 1,930 |
| Year built | 2015 |
| Builder | Piriou, Concarneau, France |
| Naval architecture | Marc Lombard |
| Exterior design | François Lucas |
| Interior design | Pierre Burdiat |
| Propulsion | Diesel-electric hybrid |
| Top speed | 15 knots |
| Cruising speed | 12 knots |
| Range | 12,000 nm at 12 knots |
| Guest cabins | 6 |
| Guests | 12 |
| Crew | 18 to 19 |
| Ice class | 1C [VERIFY notation] |
| Helideck | Touch-and-go on foredeck |
| Submarine launch | Yes, dedicated A-frame |
| Lab and dive locker | Dedicated science wet lab [VERIFY current spec] |
The 12,000-nautical-mile range is the headline number. That is enough to cross any ocean with reserve and enough to operate in the Arctic or Antarctic for a season without resupply. Combined with the ice-class notation, this is a yacht that can go where most charter platforms cannot.
The hybrid diesel-electric propulsion is the second meaningful spec. At slow speeds Yersin runs in electric-only mode, which means she can approach wildlife (whales, polar bears, walrus colonies) without engine noise. This is a real research advantage and a real charter advantage if your itinerary is wildlife-focused. The DC bus also gives her a redundancy profile that conventional twin-shaft diesel yachts cannot match.
Where she has cruised
Yersin's published itinerary is heavily weighted toward expedition and research work. Antarctic seasons. Galapagos transits with the Yersin Adventure scientific programme. Pacific island crossings. Indian Ocean research itineraries. Mediterranean seasons in between when the owner uses the yacht for personal cruising.
The Yersin Adventure programme is worth understanding. François Fiat established the programme to make the yacht available for scientific research and conservation projects, and she has hosted research teams from. This is not marketing. It is a substantive part of the yacht's operational use, and it shapes how she is crewed, how she is equipped, and how she is available for non-research charter.
The implication for charter is straightforward. Yersin is not a yacht where you call and book a 7-day Mediterranean week. She is a yacht where you propose a project (scientific, conservation, expedition, or genuine remote-itinerary luxury charter) and the operator considers whether your project fits the yacht's calendar and operational profile.
What a week aboard actually looks like
12 guests in 6 cabins, in the standard configuration. The interior brief is contemporary French, with light timbers, large window areas, and a deck flow that prioritises the aft deck over the social aft cockpit. The forward saloon and the dining room are the social heart of the yacht. The aft deck is where the scientific and tender operations happen.
The guest experience on Yersin is closer to an upmarket expedition cruise than to a Lürssen charter. Crew service is professional but not white-glove in the Med-yacht sense. The chef cooks well within a galley. The interior team services the cabins without the daily theatre of the larger yachts. This is appropriate to the yacht's purpose. If your guest list expects the daily-changed-orchids and the wine-pairing-with-every-course, Yersin will feel functional. If your guest list wants the wildlife, the access, and the platform, Yersin will deliver where the conventional yacht cannot.
Toys are expedition-class. Past inventory has included: a custom expedition tender, a secondary chase tender, two RIBs sized for landings, jet skis, dive gear with a dedicated dive locker, a submersible launch capability via A-frame [VERIFY current submersible inventory], snowmobiles for high-latitude work, and the helicopter capacity (touch-and-go). The science equipment includes a wet lab, sample storage, and the ability to host research teams with their own equipment.
What the platform actually buys you
Three things that no conventional charter yacht in this size class delivers.
The first is range with redundancy. 12,000 nm at economic cruise. A two-week ocean crossing with reserve. The hybrid diesel-electric architecture gives her a redundancy and reliability profile that twin-shaft diesel yachts of equivalent LOA cannot match. For a serious expedition itinerary this is the difference between go and no-go.
The second is wildlife-grade silent approach. Electric-only mode at slow speeds means she can approach wildlife in a way diesel yachts cannot. For a wildlife-focused charter (whale-watching in Tonga, polar bear observation in Spitsbergen, Galapagos endemics) this is a meaningful difference in what your guests will see.
The third is the science capability. The wet lab, the sample storage, the ability to host researchers, and the operational culture that supports research projects. If your charter is a research-or-conservation project, Yersin is not just a charter platform, she is a peer-reviewed research vessel. This is unique at the size class.
The trade-offs are real. The interior is competent but not the Lürssen aesthetic. The crew service is professional but not the choreographed Med-yacht performance. The yacht is operationally focused on her purpose, which is expedition and research, and the conventional luxury-yacht charter experience is a secondary concern.
Three things we would change before signing
The framing of the charter. Do not approach Yersin as a charter client. Approach her as a project sponsor or a long-itinerary expedition client. The owner's calendar is not built around 7-day week-charter slots. It is built around multi-week expeditions and research projects. Frame your enquiry accordingly, and your chances of getting a productive conversation rise substantially.
The crew and operator brief. Confirm the current operational structure. Yersin has been operated through across her history. The captain and the chief officer continuity is meaningful for a yacht of this purpose. Ask for CVs and prior expedition track record.
The science and equipment plan. If your charter is research or wildlife-focused, build the equipment and personnel plan into the contract. The wet lab is functional [VERIFY current spec]. The submersible (if available) needs a separate operating contract. The dive operation needs a divemaster on the contract crew.
The APA and the operational cost. Yersin's APA on a serious expedition itinerary is not the conventional 30 to 35 percent. Build a 60 to 80 percent contingency on the headline rate for an expedition charter, and ask for line-item APA on the most recent comparable engagement.
The route and the permits. High-latitude and remote destinations require permits, ice-pilot fees, and operational insurance that conventional Mediterranean charter contracts do not cover. Confirm the permit and insurance plan in writing before signing.
What we would pass on
We would pass on Yersin for any conventional Mediterranean week-charter. The platform is overspecified, the price is wrong, and the alternative platforms in the conventional 70m to 80m motor-yacht charter market are better-fitted for that work.
We would pass on her for a guest list expecting the conventional luxury-yacht charter experience. The Lürssen aesthetic is not what Yersin delivers. If that is what your guests want, find a different yacht.
We would pass on her for any short-itinerary booking. Yersin's value is in the long-itinerary expedition. A 7-day booking does not justify the platform and rarely results in a productive conversation with the operator.
How she compares
Inside the explorer-yacht and expedition-platform market, Yersin's comparables are:
- Cloudbreak (73m, 2016, Abeking & Rasmussen). Yacht-finish explorer with ski-charter use, less science capability. Cloudbreak profile.
- Planet Nine (73m, 2018, Admiral). Yacht-finish explorer with certified helideck, less science capability. Planet Nine profile.
- Legend (77m, ice-class converted explorer). Ice-class platform, more conventional charter availability. Legend profile.
- Ragnar (68m, ice-class converted icebreaker). True ice-class, less yacht-finish, charter-available. Ragnar profile.
Yersin's positioning against this set is the science capability, the genuine commercial-vessel build standard, and the owner's specific framing of the yacht as a research-and-expedition platform. She is the most "purpose-built" of the cohort. Cloudbreak and Planet Nine are more conventional charter options. Yersin is the choice for an itinerary or a project that needs the platform, not the vibe.
How to enquire
Yersin's operational structure is owner-controlled. The conventional broker-quote process does not apply. The right enquiry path is a direct approach to the operating team, ideally framed around a specific project or itinerary. The Yersin Adventure programme has a public-facing enquiry channel for research projects [VERIFY current contact]. Conventional charter enquiries are best routed through a broker with a personal relationship to the operator [VERIFY current relationships].
Three things to have ready before the first call:
- The specific itinerary or project, with dates and routing.
- The guest manifest, with any institutional or research affiliations made explicit.
- The budget envelope, framed as all-in (rate plus APA plus operational cost) rather than headline rate.
A vague "we would like to charter Yersin in August in the Med" enquiry will be politely declined. A specific "we are running a 28-day Spitsbergen wildlife-and-research itinerary in late June with a four-person research team and 8 guests, all-in budget €4M" enquiry has a chance of getting a substantive answer.