3075
Views

Ponant Takes Delivery of Le Bougainville from VARD

Images courtesy of Philip Plisson
Images courtesy of Philip Plisson

Published Apr 17, 2019 5:34 PM by The Maritime Executive

Ponant has taken delivery of its third luxury expedition cruise vessel, Le Bougainville, from VARD in Norway.

The 9,900gt Le Bougainville, the latest in the French cruise line's Explorer series. She is 131 meters (430 feet) long, 18 meters (59 feet) wide and accommodates 184 passengers. She follows delivery from VARD of Le Laperouse in June 2018 and Le Champlain in October. Vard Søviknes is now working on a fourth sister ship, Le Dumont-d’Urville, scheduled for delivery in June this year.

Le Bougainville has started her first sailing from Malaga, Spain. She will be officially inaugurated on June 4. 

The ships in the Explorer series are created to be intimate in nature, with just 92 state rooms and suites, all of which boast balconies or private terraces. As with all the vessels from this series, Le Bougainville is fitted with a world first, the “Blue Eye.” This multi-sensorial underwater salon allows guests to experience the underwater world via two portholes in the form of a cetaceous eye looking out on to the sea bed, non-intrusive underwater lighting and hydrophones integrated into the keel retransmitting the natural symphony of the deep water, as well as body listening sofas, offering a unique sensorial listening experience by corporal resonance.