PONANT Chooses San Giorgio Del Porto for Historic Ship Refurbishment

The order for the refurbishment of one of the leading cruise ships of PONANT, global leader in luxury expeditions and the only French-owned cruise line, was entrusted to San Giorgio del Porto.

The refurbishment and modernization work, which will cover several areas on board the ship, will be completed in six months, from November 2019 to April 2020 and will employ around 200 people. The name of the luxury class ship, built in 1991, is Le Ponant, and she is 88 meters long, 12 meters wide and has a capacity of 66 passengers.

After an initial phase of removal of the existing furnishings, which began in Marseilles on October 25 at Chantier Naval de Marseille - a company founded by San Giorgio del Porto in 2010 - and will end on October 30, the cruise ship will leave for the Genoese shipyard where the restyling work will enter the operational phase.

“This order makes us very proud because it strengthens the bond with a major partner such as PONANT,” said Manolo Cavaliere, Commercial Manager of San Giorgio del Porto. "This modernization project of one of the company's flagship ships is of great value to us as it contributes to strengthening our position as a leader in Europe and as a world benchmark in the area of naval transformation, a sector in constant growth."

“For this renovation, we want to rethink and reshape the interior space of our emblematic flagship, Le Ponant, to offer passengers a unique experience,” said Charles Gravatte, General Secretary of PONANT. “The ship’s transformation is part of PONANT’s general upscaling strategy and aims to pursue the increase of our standards of excellence to the highest level. We are pleased and confident in the expertise of the San Giorgio del Porto shipyards for this major project.”