It is largely dedicated to the history of French colonial exploration in the Pacific and the collection includes objects retrieved from the frigates Astrolabe and Boussole, which were wrecked under the captaincy of Jean-François de Galaup de Lapérouse.

[6] In 2021, the museum opened a new temporary exhibition on the history of the cruise and the journey by sea from France to the territory.

[8] The museum's collection includes artefacts collected from the wrecks of the frigates Astrolabe and Boussole, which had been captained by Jean-François de Galaup de Lapérouse, a naval officer commissioned by Louis XVI to explore the Pacific.

[9] It also contain objects relating other voyages to New Caledonia in the colonial period,[10] to missionary activity, and to the history of nickel.

[12] Museologists have commented that the museum focusses on French, rather than indigenous, maritime histories.