PONANT's Le Laperouse successfully completes sea trials

#expeditioncruising

Le Lapérouse, the first ship in the PONANT EXPLORERS series, runs through her first sea trials successfully in Norway this month while the construction of the other five expedition vessels in the latest-generation series is under way.

On 18 May, Le Lapérouse, the first ship in the new PONANT EXPLORERS series, successfully conducted her sea trials at the Vard Shipyard in Ålesund, a subsidiary of Fincantieri, a world leader in cruise ship construction. The tests, part of the last stage of construction, is also the first opportunity to reveal the new ship and enjoy the elegant lines of PONANT's latest-generation series.

"These sea trials are a real success for the company. Remarkable nautical performances, technical excellence, a high standard of comfort, everything is in place for the PONANT EXPLORERS series to be a real triumph" says Jean Emmanuel Sauvée, CEO of PONANT.

The first cruises on board Le Lapérouse start from Iceland in June 2018. The ship will then cruise the Mediterranean, then head via the Indian Ocean and Asia to Australia for her first season of expedition voyages to New Zealand's Sub Antarctic Islands (February 2019), Melanesia and Australia's Kimberley region (May to August 2019).

The construction of the five other ships in the PONANT EXPLORERS series is well under way. The steel-cutting ceremony for the 5th and 6th vessels, Le Bellot and Le Surville, scheduled for delivery in 2020, took place on 4 April in Romania. More recently, Le Champlain reached Norway on 27 April to complete the final phases of her construction. The inaugural cruise will take place on 25 October in Honfleur, France.

The construction of Le Bougainville and Le Dumont d' Urville progresses on the Vard shipyard in Tulcea in Romania; the ships are scheduled for delivery in 2019.

au.ponant.com