Ponant 25 years on and looking toward Australia, Asia, Pacific islands and West Africa

Ponant CEO, Jean-Emmanuel Sauvée

With 2013 revenue up 25% compared to last year, it has been another successful year for Compagnie du Ponant, ceo Jean-Emmanuel Sauvée, told Seatrade Insider during a one-to-one interview in Paris this week.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the company has had an interesting and eventful journey, remarked Sauvée - one of two co-founders of the French luxury line which he and Philippe Videau launched in Nantes in 1988, ‘without a franc in our pockets’.

With a good business plan and long-term vision, the young sea captains managed to secure financing for the first vessel, the sleek, three-masted 64-passenger sailing ship Le Ponant, which launched in 1991, and is still in the fleet.

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