Ponant, the French cruise line and a leader in luxury expeditions, said it took delivery on April 5 of Le Bougainville, the third ship in the Ponant Explorers series and the eighth vessel in its fleet. Le Bougainville left Søvik, Norway on April 8 and was scheduled to reach Malaga, Spain on April 15 for the start of her maiden cruise. The official inauguration will take place on June 4.

“A dream, firm beliefs, energy and boldness were what created Ponant,” said Jean Emmanuel Sauvée, CEO and co-founder of Ponant. “It is by drawing on those roots and our expertise that Ponant is preparing today to meet the challenges of tomorrow, to surprise and delight our guests. I wanted the ships in the Ponant Explorers series to embody the very best in expedition cruise. Le Bougainville is the incarnation of that.”

As with its sister ships, Le Bougainville will feature just 92 staterooms and suites (or 184 guests double occupancy), all with a balcony or private terrace, and a refined design with taut, sleek lines and cutting-edge technologies with respect to the environment.

The ship also is fitted with the world’s first “Blue Eye” lounge. This multi-sensorial underwater salon allows guests to discover and experience the underwater world via two portholes in the form of a cetaceous eye looking out on to the sea bed. The lounge also features non-intrusive underwater lighting, hydrophones integrated into the keel to transmit the natural symphony of the deep water, and body-listening sofas that offer a unique sensorial listening experience by corporal resonance.

Adding to the existing fleet (Le Ponant, Le Boréal, L’Austral, Le Soléal and Le Lyrial), the new Ponant ships are on schedule per the construction timetable: Le Lapérouse (June 2018), Le Champlain (October 2018), Le Bougainville (April 2019), Le Dumont-d’Urville (August 2019), Le Bellot (scheduled for April 2020); Le Jacques Cartier (scheduled for July 2020), Le Commandant Charcot (scheduled for May 2021).

Ponant was created in 1988 by Jean Emmanuel Sauvée and a dozen officers of the French Merchant Navy. Today, it is leading the way with a new style of luxury cruising through a unique conception of sea travel, which combines exceptional itineraries, and luxury hotel services aboard smaller-scale ships. For more information, click on Ponant.