the cruise line . for other senses of the term ponant see ponant . ponant type private industry maritime transport founded 1988 headquarters marseille france products cruise line owner art mis website english website ponant officially compagnie du ponant cdp ; ponant company is a french cruise ship operator . it was founded in april 1988 by philippe videau jean emmanuel sauv and other officers of the french merchant navy and launched the first french cruise ship . 1 the company operates four ships all of which operate under the french flag . contents 1 history 2 fleet 3 former fleet 4 destinations 5 references 6 external links history edit ponant started out with one ship le ponant a three masted barque built in 1991 . le ponant still operates with the company today . eight years later in 1999 the company acquired le levant a yacht . after 13 years in service with ponant le levant was purchased by paul gauguin cruises in 2012 and became tere moana . 2 in 2004 ponant purchased le diamant a luxury liner . le diamant transferred to quark expeditions in 2012 to become ocean diamond . 3 later in 2010 ponant put into service the first of a series of four identical luxury sister ships le boreal . a year later the company began operating the second ship of the class l austral and in 2013 the third ship of the class was added to the fleet le sol al. 4 5 the fourth ship of the class will be delivered in 2015 . 6 initially based in nantes for 18 years in 2006 the company headquarters was moved to marseille following its acquisition by cma cgm . in 2012 cma cgm sold ponant to bridgepoint capital . 7 on april 4 2008 le ponant was seized by somali pirates in the gulf of aden while en route from the seychelles to the mediterranean . the ship carried no passengers at the time of its capture but all 30 crewmembers were taken hostage . 8 the hostages were released without incident on april 12 . following the release french helicopters tracked the pirates to the village of jariban . french commando marine and gign operating from the frigate jean bart and the jeanne d arc moved in when the pirates attempted to flee in the desert . a sniper disabled the get away vehicle and the commandos were able to capture six men . local officials claimed that three people died in the raid with a further eight wounded but france denied this . troops also recovered some of the ransom money paid by the owner of the yacht for the release of its crew . 9 the six captured pirates have since been flown to paris where they shall face trial . 10 in 2013 one of ponant s ships le soleal became the first french commercial shipping vessel to traverse the northwest passage . the vessel left kangerlussuaq in greenland on august 26 2013 and arrived in anadyr in russia on september 16 2013 . 11 in march 2016 ponant ordered four new ships with about 10.000 gt at vard a subcompany of fincantieri . 12 they will get delivered in 2018 and 2019 . the ships will get named le lap rouse le champlain le bougainville and le kerguelen . 13 fleet edit the company operates five ships ship built entered service for ponant gross tonnage flag notes ship image le ponant 1991 1991 1 489 gt france a barque built in 1991 32 cabins for 64 passengers and 32 crew members . le bor al 2010 2010 10 700 gt france built in 2010 132 cabins and suites for 264 passengers and 140 crew members . the le bor al won the award for best newcomer of the year gold from the european cruiser association eucras . 14 l austral 2011 2011 10 944 gt france sister vessel of le bor al built in 2011 132 cabins and suites for 264 passengers and 140 crew members . l austral was put into service on april 20 2011 . le sol al 2012 2012 10 944 gt france sister vessel of le bor al and l austral . like her sisters she has 132 cabins and suites for 264 passengers and 140 crew members . le lyrial 15 2015 2015 10 944 gt france on 16 july 2013 fincantieri and ponant announced that they had signed a contract for a new super luxury cruise ship to be delivered in 2015 . 16 the ship will be the sister ship of le sol al and like her sister she will be built in fincantieri s ancona shipyard . 17 former fleet edit ship built in service for ponant gross tonnage flag notes ship image le levant 1998 1998 2012 3 500 gt france a yacht built in 1998 45 cabins for 90 passengers and 55 crew members . sold to paul gauguin cruises to become tere moana . delivered in 2012 . le diamant 1974 rebuilt in 1986 2004 2011 8 282 grt france a luxury liner bought in 2004 113 cabins for 226 passengers and 120 crew . transferred to quark expeditions in 2013 . 18 destinations edit ponant offers all season cruises in places inaccessible to larger cruise liners . the company offers cruises to the following destinations northern europe and greenland scandinavia baltic and iceland adriatic and mediterranean corsica italy croatia aegean and black sea iberian peninsula red sea and persian gulf indian ocean maldives asia south and central america antarctica canada new england references edit l historique de compagnie du ponant . sixstarcruises . retrieved 23 december 2013 . paul gauguin buys le levant to branch out from south pacific . cruise community.com . september 30 2011 . retrieved october 8 2011 . griffin kevin 12 december 2011 . ocean diamond joins quark expeditions . cybercruises.com . retrieved 8 february 2012 . l austral . cruise line . retrieved 24 december 2013 . ponant s le sol al enters service with godmother kiki tauck mahar as guest of honor . travel pulse . retrieved 24 december 2013 . fincantieri to build fourth ponant cruise ship . marinelink.com . retrieved 31 december 2013 . bridgepoint acquires ponant somali pirates seize french yacht . bbc news . 4 april 2008 . france raid ship after crew freed . bbc news . 12 april 2008 . france charges somali pirates . bbc news . 18 april 2008 . ponant ship makes history . sixstarcruises . retrieved 15 december 2013 . vard 4 navi da crociera per ponant . 2016 03 15 . retrieved 2016 03 15 . 4 nouveaux navires pour ponant . retrieved 2016 09 15 . le bor al small ship cruising french style . all things cruise . retrieved 23 december 2013 . http www.cruiseindustrynews.com cruise news 11103 ponant offers solo travel with no single supplement.html fincantieri to build fourth cruise ship for france s ponant . ship technology . retrieved 31 december 2013 . 16 07 2013 . fincantieri . retrieved 30 november 2013 . http www.expeditioncruising.com 2011 11 ponant le diamant sold.html external links edit media related to compagnie du ponant at wikimedia commons french official website ponant english ponant website v t e ships of the ponant fleet current fleet le ponant le bor al l austral le sol al future le lyrial former le levant le diamant retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title compagnie du ponant & oldid 739572366 categories compagnie du ponantcompanies based in marseilleshipping companies of francecruise lineshidden categories 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