Ponant embraces its Frenchiness. * Photo: Heidi Sarna
Ponant, the world’s only French-flagged cruise line, has just signed a letter of intent for the order of four new ships from VARD, the Norwegian subsidiary of the Italian FINCANTIERI group. The order is the first since the company was bought by ARTEMIS, holding company of the Pinault family, in 2015.
The luxury expedition-style ships, the first of which will be delivered in 2018, will each have 92 cabins and a crew of 110. They’ll be ice-class ranked and carry aboard Zodiac landing craft. Itineraries will include the lagoons and secret islands of Oceania, as well as places in South America, from the Orinoco River and Amazonia to Costa Rica, plus
Southeast Asia’s Papua New Guinea and points in the Indian Ocean.
The four news ships will join Ponant’s sailing yacht Le Ponant and its four sister ships —Le Boréal, L’Austral, Le Soléal and Le Lyrial — all built by FINCANTIERI between 2010 and 2015.
HEIDI SARNA
