Le Ponant: cruise ship under sail

The imposing giant of the French fleet

Le Ponant is a three-masted French luxury yacht. The yacht was built in 1991 at the Societe Francaise de Construction Navales shipyard in Villeneuve-la-Garenne, France. The length of this miracle yacht is as much as 88 meters!

Le Ponant was the result of three years of painstaking work. The launch of this yacht was notable not only for the birth of the Ponant cruise line of the same name, but also for the fact that Le Ponant became the first French cruise ship of this size. 

Le Ponant was officially launched and passed the rite of passage in the city of La Rochelle, on the Atlantic coast of France. 

Features of Le Ponant

Due to the fact that the yacht is not privately owned, it will not be possible to charter it. In this sense, Le Ponant is truly closer to classic cruise ships than other similar yachts. You can visit on board as part of a thematic tour from the owner company.

The main feature of Le Ponant is its sails. Le Ponant's sails have an area of approximately 1000 sq.m. Whenever weather conditions permit, the crew raises the sails—on average, the company reports, the vessel spends approximately 30% under sail. 

However, sometimes weather conditions are favorable. Captain Jean-David says: “We raise the sails when the wind speed is 10-20 knots, this way we can save fuel. In the Caribbean we haven't lowered the sails for more than 90% time. We are now developing cruise routes in the Caribbean to make the most of the sails.” 

There is also a master cabin on board, in this case more of a luxury cabin. The suite is separate from the other cabins on deck four and accommodates up to four guests. The master cabin also has a separate bedroom with a dressing room, desk, bathroom, and two showers. The total area of the suite is 46 sq.m.

There is also a restaurant on board Le Ponant. It has a large panoramic viewing window and offers guests breakfast and dinner of exquisite gastronomic cuisine.

Pirate attack and restoration

The hero of today's story, Le Ponant, has survived a lot in its 33-year history, including a real pirate attack. On April 4, 2008, the cruise ship was hijacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. There were 30 crew members on board. Fortunately, the French Navy quickly released the hostages and regained control of the ship.

In 2022, Le Ponant underwent an extensive restoration aimed at increasing environmental protection. As part of the restoration, the ship was equipped with an SCR filter system to remove small plastic particles and reduce exhaust emissions, a waste sorting system and a modern water purification system.

One of the unexpected changes concerned the number of guests: after the reconstruction, the maximum number of guests decreased from 32 to 16.

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11.07.2024