Le Ponant

The 1991-built MS Le Ponant yacht is a tall-sailing cruise ship. The 64-passenger vessel is a luxury sail yacht owned and managed by Ponant Cruises. The 3-masted sailship has a total of 1500 m2 (16150 ft2) of sails and was constructed in France (at SFCN Shipyard in Villeneuve-la-Garenne), targeting predominantly the French source market. The boat also operates in North America (under charter) on mainly expedition-style voyages.

The vessel (IMO number 8914219) is currently France-flagged (MMSI 227186000).

History - construction and ownership

Compagnie du Ponant (CDP) is a French cruise shipping company founded in April 1988 by former French Merchant Navy officers. All Ponant ships are France-flagged. The company specializes in premium adventure cruise travel targeting the French-speaking source market with all-inclusive deals. Most of CDP's fleet is based in Antarctica (December through March). All these mega-yachts offer modern amenities, premium service by highly-trained staff and crew, 5-star hotel amenities onboard. Exotic, offbeat itineraries visit popular travel destinations worldwide, including Caribbean, Baltic, Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, South America, Australia.

Somali pirate attack April 4, 2008: On this date, Le Ponant sailing only with the crew was attacked by Somali pirates. All people on board were taken hostage. The incident happened in the Gulf of Aden while the yacht was sailing from Seychelles to the Mediterranean. Despite being in pirate hands, Le Ponant was under constant surveillance by the French forces and a Canadian CH-124 helicopter from HMCS Charlottetown. Hopefully, the pirates decided to release the hostages 8 days later after a paid ransom. French helicopters did not abandon the yacht and tracked the pirates to a village. The bandits made an attempt to escape in the desert but a sniper disabled their vehicle and all 6 attackers were captured.

Decks and Cabins

The ship has 4 passenger decks, including a Sundeck, with total 32 staterooms (all outside/with windows but no balconies) in 2 cabins categories - Triple (3 cabins) and Double (29 cabins, with King-size bed).

The boat is served by 32 crew (French) and staff (Filipino).

Shipboard facilities and amenities

The ship has two restaurants - Karukera Dining Room and the outdoor restaurant Le Diamant (Diamond Room), as well as

The luxury yacht has two bar-lounges - Emeraude Lounge (main entertainment venue/theater) and Saphir Lounge (lecture hall fitted with internet computers).

On Deck 2 are:

• the Lobby (sized 280 ft2 / 26 m2) with the Reception Desk (24-hour guest relations, shore excursions/tours, purser services)
• the fore-located Karukera Restaurant (the ship's dining room, sized 925 ft2 / 86 m2) with capacity 64 seats. This is a gastronomic restaurant serving Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Cuisine is traditional French and international. The restaurant has an elegant design and a sophisticated environment.
• Emeraude Lounge (sized 795 ft2 / 74 m2) has capacity of 64 seats. This is the yacht's main lounge with a dance floor, stage, grand piano, a separate bar area (sized 260 ft2 / 24 m2).
• Saphir Lounge (sized 260 ft2 / 24 m2) doubles as Lecture Hall and serves Ponant's enrichment program with daily lectures and video presentations related to the current Le Ponant itinerary (destinations, ports of call, shore excursions). The Lounge is equipped with large HDTV, computers, Internet.
• The aft-located Marina Platform serves watersports activities (glass-bottomed kayaking, snorkeling, scuba diving, surfing, paddle-boarding) and offers direct access to the Zodiacs (large-capacity inflatable boats/RIBs) used for landings, close-to-shore cruising and tendering in destinations without wharves (piers or quays).

On Deck 3 are the forward Navigation Bridge/Wheelhouse (with the adjacent Captain's Suite and officers quarters) and the aft Le Diamant Restaurant (sized 1250 ft2 / 116 m2, capacity 64 seats). Le Diamant is an outdoor/open-air panoramic dining venue serving Breakfast and buffet-style Lunch.

On Deck 4 are the Observatory (indoor observation lounge) and the sundeck (sunbathing area with loungers). The sundeck area is also used for outdoor exercises (including Aerobics, Yoga, meditation classes) and for deck parties.

Itineraries

MS Le Ponant itinerary program is based on top-luxury Mediterranean voyages visiting islands and (mainly) smaller ports on the French Riviera, the Italian Riviera, Dalmatian Coast, Greece and the Greek Isles.

Due to scheduled drydocking followed by the Coronavirus crisis, the yacht was paused for ~2,5 years (November 2019 through June 2022). In mid-December 2021, Ponant Cruises announced that from June 2022, Le Ponant will be deployed in the Aegean-Eastern Mediterranean Sea for itineraries visiting ports in Greece and Croatia. Season 2022 featured 3 new itineraries and a total of 20 departures.

For winter 2022-2023 season (November 22nd thru February 20th), Le Ponant was deployed in Seychelles and scheduled for a total of 11x roundtrips leaving from homeport Victoria (Mahe Island). Rates started from USD 10890 (EUR 9865) per person with double occupancy.