JULY 18, 2013 — French yacht cruise specialist Compagnie du Ponant has signed a contract with Fincantieri for the construction of a super-luxury cruise ship. The new ship will be the twin to Le Soleal, the mini-cruise ship delivered last month, and follows L'Austral and Le Boreal, delivered by the shipbuilder in May 2010 and April 2011 respectively.

New ship will be a twin to recently delivered Le Soleal

Like the previous three ships, the new ship will also be assigned to Fincantieri's Ancona shipyard and is scheduled for delivery in the spring of 2015.

It will fly the French flag and will be approximately 11,000 gross tons, about 142 m long, 18 m wide and will have a cruise speed of 16 knots. She will accommodate more than 264 passengers in 132 cabins and suites, all with a sea view, 95 percent of which have a private balcony and will have a crew of 140.

Commenting on the new order, Fincantieri CEO Giuseppe Bono said: "This new order marks a firm consolidation of our relationship with this prestigious cruise operator and allows us to secure a strong foothold globally in a very promising business segment.This encouraging achievement, coming shortly after other new orders, has been realized in a still difficult market and has been possible also thanks to the greater cohesion achieved within the company that bodes well for the necessary improvement in efficiency and competitiveness".

"For Compagnie du Ponant this order is another step towards the future that validates an effective business model and strengthens our partnership with Fincantieri, which has been entrusted with building this fourth sistership after the excellent work achieved on the previous three yachts," says Compagnie du Ponant CEO Jean-Emmanuel Sauvée.