PONANT, France's number 2 cruise company and world leader in polar expeditions celebrates 30 years of existence. It was on 1 April 1988 that the adventure began in Nantes, where 14 young Merchant Navy officers aged 23 to 29, including Jean-Emmanuel Sauvée, still active as CEO, and Philippe Videau, decided to create the company, which first took the name COMPAGNIE des ÎLES du PONANT (it became COMPAGNIE du PONANT in 2009 and simply PONANT in 2014). PONANT is the only cruise company in France flying the Tricolore.
by Earl of Cruise
based on an article by Vincent Groizeleau at Mer et Marine
based on an article by Vincent Groizeleau at Mer et Marine
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| LE PONANT in the port of Bonifacio, Corsica - Sourece: Wikipedia (original seize) |
The first ship, built in Villeneuve-la-Garenne, was born in 1991. It is the sailboat and cruise vessel LE PONANT, a modern three-masted ship of 85.5 meters long with 32 cabins, still in service. LE PONANT´s sails became the logo of PONANT.
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| LE LEVANT - Source: Wikipedia (original seize) |
A second new unit, LE LEVANT (99.6 metres, 45 cabins, 92 passengers max.), left ALSTOM LEROUX NAVAL shipyards in Saint-Malo in 1998. Then came LE DIAMANT in 2004 (124 metres, 113 cabins, 227 passengers max.), an old ferry built in 1974 in Japan, converted into a small luxury cruise vessel (SONG OF FLOWER) in 1986 for a Japanese cruise company. With LE DIAMANT the French company began its activity in the polar regions.
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| Le Diamant in Neko Harbour bay (Antarctic Peninsula) - Source: Wikipedia (original seize) |
Discover a new generation of cruise ships, the PONANT explorers,
designed specifically for expeditionary voyages. PONANT opens the way to
a new concept, launching four exceptional ships with names inspired by
France's great explorers: Le Dumont d'Urville, Le Champlain, Le
Bougainville, Le Lapérouse, Le Bellot & Le Surville - Source: Youtube
For a long time expedition cruise vessels had been former, or are, just research vessels, or rebuilt old tonnage for expedition cruises. their passenger compartments but could be named spartan. Excemptions had been the FRONTIER SPIRIT, later BREMEN, SONG OF FLOWER, WORLD DISCOVERER, LINDBLAD EXPLORER, OCEANIC GRACE, later the second WORLD DISCOVERER and HAMSEATIC.
The same year, PONANT experienced its first historic turning point and left Nantes for Marseille after its purchase by and integration into the CMA CGM GROUP, which will enable it to achieve its ambitions.
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| LE PONANT - courtesy PONANT |
April 4th, 2008, near desaster struck PONANT. Its sailing cruise ship LE PONANT was seized by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden while en route from the Seychelles to the Mediterranean. The ship carried no passengers at the time of its capture, but all 30 crewmembers were taken hostage; one Cameroonian, six Filipinos, 22 French, and one Ukrainian. French forces - including the aviso COMMANDANT BOUAN - and a Canadian CH-124 helicopter from HMCS CHARLOTTETOWN were monitoring the yacht after its seizure. The hostages were released without incident on April 12th
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| Photo taken from the Canadian helicopter, while pirates had been boarding - Source: Le Point |
Following the release, French helicopters from the Djibouti military base tracked the pirates to the village of Jariban. French commando marine and GIGN operating from the frigate JEAN BART and the cruiser JEANNE d'ARC
moved in when the pirates attempted to flee in the desert. A sniper
disabled the get-away vehicle, and the commandos were able to capture
six men. Local officials claimed that three people died in the raid,
with a further eight wounded, but France denied this. Troops also
recovered some of the ransom money paid by the owner of the yacht for the release of its crew.The six captured pirates were flown to Paris, where they faced their trial in 2012.
Securing the straight of Aden off the coast of the failed state of Somalia is an international EU mission, UN covered, called ATALANTA, and started Dec 8th, 2008.
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| PONANT´s LE BORÉAL CLass expedition cruise vessels - courtesy PONANT |
Thanks to an ambitious investment plan that will result in the construction of four new vessels. LE BORÉAL, L'AUSTRAL, LE SOLÉAL and LE LYRIAL are delivered between 2009 and 2015 by the Italian shipyards FINCANTIERI. LE BORÉAL is measured with 10,700 GRT and the other three with 10,944 GRT. All ships have 142 x 18 x 4,8 meters. While LE LEVANT and LE DIAMANT are sold in 2012, the new units, even if they do not reach the standards of US oriented or European luxury companies, allow PONANT to consolidate its positioning in high-end cruises and, especially, on expedition trips, particularly to Antarctica and the Arctic. For luxury critics as me, the new ships of the LE BORÉAL Class have to small cabins and are a bit cramped with 264 passengers in 132 staterooms. There are existing some suites of +45sqm and some staterooms are interchangable as suites. The ships have 139 service and naval crew. The max. speed is 16 kts over two propellers.
Despite lacking real luxury, the interiors of the LE BORÉAL Class had been designed in high level design - Lounge Style, with a touch of the Côte d´Azur and no shrill factors as on mass market condos. With minor adaptions, as Burgers, the food quality is superb and typical French styled. By the way, the food quality has to be the top and best of the French cuisine to satisfy a French customer and get him onboard a cruise vessel. And PONANT is offering a French lifestyle atmosphere on board.
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| LE SOLEAL the last of the quartet from FINCANTIERI - courtesy PONANT |
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| LE BORÉAL registered in Mata Utu flying le pavillion français - courtesy PONANT |
All ships of PONANT are registered in Mata-Utu (French pronunciation: [mata.yty]; ʻUvean: Matāʻutu) is the capital of Wallis and Futuna, an overseas collectivity (collectivité d'outre-mer or COM) of France. This is for France a flag of convenience, but French. It is located on the island of Uvéa. Just over 40% of the crews are French sailors, including hotel staff, with 90% French officers at ENIM (guidelines PDF in French). Flying the French flag is important for French guests and those that are francophile.
But in 2012 CMA CGM sold its cruise brand, due to the container crises
in the the wake of the world Financial Crises in 2007/08, to BRIDGEPOINT CAPITAL. Letting Lehman Bros., a world relevant bank, collapse, fueled the worldwide Financial Crisis, which is still not solved and raging. The UK based investment company brought new fresh money into PONANT, as well a stronger focus on the US cruise market. BRIDGEPOINT finalized the newbuild program.
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| Jean-Emmanuelle Sauvée |
PONANT, still flying the French Tricolore, became a major specialist for polar cruises. Not only thanks to the development of superb itineraries, but also by recruiting expedition teams composed of high-level specialists, such as Nicolas Dubreuil, who prepare trips, locate the best sites, supervise and accompany passengers, while giving them many explanations about the regions crossed. The quality of these teams and therefore the content offered to customers during cruises undoubtedly contributes to PONANT's great success in the hubs, where the company has become market leader.
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| LE BORÉAL in troubles after the engine room fire, taken from the Falkland Coast Guard - courtey UK Coast Guard |
November 15th, 2015 an engine room fire on board LE BORÉAL, during an antarctica cruise, off the Falklands Isles, made headlines. At 02:00 am 347 passengers and crew had to leave the vessel. After sending an SOS the British Coast Guard and L´AUSTRAL came for the rescue. 200 passengers had been taken by L´AUSTRAL and shipped to the Falklands, as the other passengers by helicopters.
LE BORÉAL was taken on a barge and shipped for repairs in a shipyard.
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| LE BORÉAL, a 10,700 GRT ship becoming some kind of "freight" - Photo credit: Dutch Offshore Contractors |
January 9th, 2017, L´AUSTRAL hit a reef off coast of North East Island in the Snares Island Group which caused small damages and water intake. The vessel could be secured and could sail to Auckland.
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In 2013, one of Ponant's ships, Le Soleal, became the first French commercial shipping vessel to traverse the Northwest Passage. The vessel left Kangerlussuaq in Greenland on August 26 2013 and arrived in Anadyr, in Russia on September 16th, 2013.
Video courtesy by PONANT
As owner BRIDGEPOINT remains only three years, since in 2015 the company was sold to GROUPE ARTÉMIS, the holding company of the Pinault family.
With ARTÉMIS, PONANT will experience a spectacular development, which will allow it to pass from 5 to 12 ships and from 900 to 2000 crew members by 2021, for a total of 460 proposed departures, against 300 last year.
ARTÉMIS and Pinault have a clear vision boosting PONANT into the major luxury expedition cruise cruise company in the world.
First, it is the series of four Explorer expedition ships, 131-metre units with 92 cabins, 184 passengers, ~10,000 GRT, the first of which were ordered in 2016 from Vard, a Fincantieri subsidiary. Two more were added 2018. The names of these ships will honor French explorers/discoverers.
For quite a number of those who apreciate a good designed ship, the Expedition Class of PONANT resembles a good deign, ceated by Sterling Design, and is relief for all that even in the days of floating condos well proportioned ships can be design and built.
First, it is the series of four Explorer expedition ships, 131-metre units with 92 cabins, 184 passengers, ~10,000 GRT, the first of which were ordered in 2016 from Vard, a Fincantieri subsidiary. Two more were added 2018. The names of these ships will honor French explorers/discoverers.
For quite a number of those who apreciate a good designed ship, the Expedition Class of PONANT resembles a good deign, ceated by Sterling Design, and is relief for all that even in the days of floating condos well proportioned ships can be design and built.
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| Rendering of the new yacht styled expedition cruise vessels of PONANT - courtesy PONANT |
The first two, LE LAPÉROUSE and LE CHAMPLAIN, will be delivered in the second half of 2018. In 2019, LE BOUGAINVILLE and LE DUMONT d´URVILLE (formerly to be named LE KERGUELEN) will follow, and finally in 2020 followed by LE BELLOT and LE SURVILLE. With these very beautiful ships, as the company will clearly move up the range, with higher standards than the LE BORÉAL Class. Moreover, if the Explorer are designed to be able to sail in the polar zones, the first ones at least will especially allow PONANT to develop its activity in the "green cruises" and the hot and distant regions, for example towards Amazonia or through the Pacific.
Naming the expedition vessels is to many a statement for the French endeavourers and French seafaring tradition - not only England was capable to sail across the seven seas.
Naming the expedition vessels is to many a statement for the French endeavourers and French seafaring tradition - not only England was capable to sail across the seven seas.
Constructing a series of ships is allways for the cruise companies a "cheap" way, as it is reducing the construction costs for each ship. For the builders it is the most attractive way, as they get better revenues from each "plattform-ship". E.g. MEYER WERFT is no longer interested in constructing single units for companies. If they sign a new construction contract they force minimum for an option for a second vessel to be constructed - as SAGA had to do with its current newbuilding.
This move is in so far astonishing, as CARNIVAL loudly explained, that there is no need to invest in the luxury and luxury expedition cruising, because of the lack of potential passengers and revenues ... But to be true, CARNIVAL and luxury are two different galaxies that never meet. The number of affluent and High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI) did grow significantly since 2009.
But GROUPE ARTÉMIS (motto - „croir, oser, agir“ / "believe, dare, act") for sure knows what luxury is, e.g. Kering: Saint Laurent, Gucci, Brioni, Boucheron, Girard-Perregaux, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Puma and Christie's.
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| LE LAPÉROUSE - courtesy PONANT |
While the Explorer Class is the largest series of ships ordered so far in the luxury cruise industry, PONANT also caused surprise in late 2017 by announcing the construction of the first icebreaker cruise vessel. This imposing ship of 150 metres and 135 cabins for 270 passengers, equipped with LNG propulsion, will be delivered in 2021 by Vard. Capable of breaking up to 2.5 metres of ice, it will be able to access the geographical North Pole and will allow the company, in the far south, to push further than the Antarctic peninsula, where tourist numbers continue to grow.
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| PONANT´s luxury expedition icebreaker - courtey PONANT |
Video courtesy by POMAMT
In February 2018, the company announced it had added new theme sailing
for the 2019 season: Green and Gentle Lands, Sicilian Food and Wine
Experience, Treasures of the Mediterranean World, World War II History -
From Hong Kong to Japan’s Inland Sea, and others.
For the future, other projects are in the cards and will perhaps see the light of day. PONANT has notably worked on a liner concept of around 240 metres and 225 cabins for 450 passengers. 240 meters and 450 passengers define luxury, as to me any passenger numbers above 500 is up-market mass market. And I am sure, if any cruise company is able for - then it is PONANT. And hopefully it will become something of a new L´ATLANTIQUE or NORMANDIE.
Further a new sailing vessel with four masts capable of taking over from its emblematic vessel, LE PONANT, of 1991, which is approaching its thirties. The hull and superstructure will recall the actual design lines, beginning with those of the LE BORÉAL Class vessels. This you may call family-identy, as we know it from automobile producers.
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| Rendering of the planed new PONANT sailing vessel - courtesy PONANT |
In the meantime, it will already be necessary to manage the impressive growth of the commercial offer and the fleet, which will more than double in the space of four years. In this perspective, the company has notably launched a vast recruitment plan, i.e. a total of 1100 on-board personnel (including 91 officers) and 60 employees at headquarters.
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| PONANT headquarter, 408 Avenue du Prado, 13008 Marseille, France - Source: google maps streetview |
PONANT, which has claimed 300,000 passengers since its creation, including 30,500 last year, is today one of the world leaders in maritime expedition travel and the No. 1 for polar zones. This despite the claim of HAPAG-LLOYD CRUISES to be, which forced their HANSEATIC Class expedition vessels to boost to four units. It is the second French cruise company after the Alsatian shipowner CROISIEUROPE, which aligns a fleet in continuous expansion (today of 50 ships) and welcomes each year approximately 200.000 passengers for itineraries essentially fluvial, but also maritime. While the cruise market continues to develop, a third French player, LATITUDE BLANCHE, has also just launched and others, it is said, may soon follow. This is a sign that this sector is doing well and has good prospects, as the founders of PONANT sensed three decades ago.
This makes me wonder, why PULLMANTUR, subsidiary of ROYAL CARIBBEAN LINES, had withdrawn CROISIÉRES DE FRANCE from the French market. The product has been good, with a typical French atmosphere on board and more important, an exquiste French cuisine. Eventually RCL and its Spanish subsidiary PULLMANTUR did not understand for real the French ... A complain I heard often, while on board the BLEU DE FRANCE.
Other not that lucky operators French in the French cruise market had the wrong ships they offerd on which you could not create any French atmosphere. Being successful in France and catering French guests, you need to think French and you have to know the French lifestyle.
"Sailing under the French tricolore, PONANT has carved out a place for itself in the luxury cruise sector, by
focusing on a clientele in search of a different concept of cruising, a
different way of living the cruise experience."
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| PONANT brand logo and motto - courtesy PONANT |
Intimacy, service, luxury, exclusive destinations, gourmet cuisine, a
bi-lingual-speaking crew and respect for the environment define the
values of PONANT through the concept of “yacht cruising”.
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| The PONANT brand logo on the funnels or the ships - courtesy PONANT |
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| courtesy PONANT |
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