Two of the French company’s
“young and sexy” expedition
ships could be plying Australian
waters by 2016.
Compagnie du Ponant’s announcement
of a new superyacht to be based in Australia
from 2015 has been followed today by hints of
a second vessel.
The French line revealed over the weekend
that one of its five-star ships would arrive in
Australia in early 2015 (CW breaking news).
“And we are looking at a larger presence in
2016,” the line’s newly appointed Australasian
chairman, Sarina Bratton, told Cruise Weekly.
Bratton, who founded Orion Expedition
Cruises in 2004 but sold her shares this year, is
driving Ponant’s expansion into Australia and
the Pacific Islands.
She indicated “an increasing presence of one,
maybe more ships” in the local region.
“There is nothing like these beautiful, young
and sexy superyachts in Australia,” she said.
Ponant has three 264-passenger sister ships,
with a fourth under construction, as well as a
three-masted sailing vessel, Le Ponant.
“Having a three-masted sailing vessel would
be an interesting opportunity for us,” Bratton
said, but added she was unable to comment
“until the 2016 itinerary plans are finalised”.
The 2015 deployment is yet to be confirmed,
although Bratton told CW one of the vessels
will be in the Asia-Pacific region for around
eight months – four or five of which it will likely
operate from Australia.
Le Soleal (launched July 2013), L’Austral
(2011) and Le Boreal (2010) are among the
world’s newest expedition vessels.
Bratton said the ships were “remarkably
quiet, with no vibrations, French flair – French
chefs, cuisine and wines and bilingual crew”
“The average age of other expedition ships is
25 years, so our fleet is the youngest by a long
way,” Bratton said.
“One of the challenges at Orion was not
being able to provide additional ships that
were commensurate with the Orion, so having
a fleet of brand new ships makes it much
easier to give Ponant’s loyal passenger base a
choice of destinations around the world.”
Destinations are expected to include Japan,
the Pacific Islands, the Russian Far East “and
other itineraries that Orion II did”, Bratton said.
Reservations can be made through Ponant’s
partner in Australia, Travel the World – see
www.traveltheworld.com.au.
