Each member of the class has been allocated the name of a famous French explorer, and Le Champlain is named after Samuel de Champlain, "The Father of New France".

[1][2] Built by VARD, Le Champlain had her hull constructed in VARD's Tulcea yard in Romania, where her keel was laid down on 20 April 2017.

[3] A year and one week later, on 27 April 2018, she arrived at the builder's Søviknes facility in Ålesund, Norway, for final outfitting.

[5] On 25 October 2018, Le Champlain departed from Honfleur, France on her maiden voyage to Lisbon, Portugal.

[6] Media related to Le Champlain at Wikimedia Commons