Ponant Takes Delivery of Newest Cruise Ship

French cruise company Ponant has received its new cruise ship, Le Bougainville, bringing its fleet to eight vessels.

The ship, which is the third in the Ponant Explorers series, joined the company on April 5, 2019.

The unit left Søvik in Norway in the morning hours of April 8 and is currently sailing to Malaga, Spain, from where it would start its maiden cruise voyage on April 15. It will be officially inaugurated on June 4.

Le Bougainville was constructed by VARD, the Norwegian subsidiary of Italy’s Fincantieri. The company’s fourth vessel from the batch, Le Dumont-d’Urville, is scheduled to be handed over from the shipyard in June 2019.

The remaining three units under construction, namely Le Bellot, Le Jacques Cartier and Le Commandant Charcot, are expected to join the fleet in April and July 2020, and May 2021, respectively.

“I wanted the ships in the Ponant Explorers series to embody the very best in expedition cruise. Le Bougainville is the incarnation of that,” Jean Emmanuel Sauvée, CEO and co-founder of PONANT, said.

?? #Live from Søvik, in Norway, where our ships the Le Bougainville and the Le Dumont d’Urville are both currently being built!
? One is due to take to the sea in a few days, the other is set to leave the shipyard in June!
See you very soon onboard ⚓ pic.twitter.com/V1ICaniu86

— PONANT Cruises (@ponant_cruises) April 4, 2019