When we talk about Pinault, we inevitably talk about luxury. It is no coincidence that it is with the French shipowner Ponant, a company controlled by the Artemis group (holding company of the Pinault family, already owner of the PPR luxury galaxy), that the Italian naval group Fincantieri has signed a 300 million euro agreement for the design and construction of 2 luxury cruise ships of new generation.
The new units, with deliveries both expected in 2022, will be the evolution of those of the "Ponant Explorers" class: they are light ships, relatively small and environmentally friendly: they will have a gross tonnage of about 11.000 tons, hosting just 230 lucky passengers on board. The boats will operate in the South Pacific area for the "Paul Gauguin Cruises" brand and will be built by the production network of the VARD group, the Norwegian subsidiary of the Fincantieri group which, among other things, is also about to launch the first ship self-driving and electric container ships in the world.
The two ships will be built by adopting the most advanced technologies in terms of environmental and people protection, characterized by the largest battery apparatus in the sector, which will enable smoke-free operations at anchor, in ports and in sensitive areas from an ecological point of view. The agreement also, explains a note from the Trieste group, paves the way for further cooperation between Ponant, Fincantieri and VARD for the development of new environmentally friendly projects.
“The confirmation of the collaboration with a lively operator like Ponant – commented theChief Executive Officer of Fincantieri, Giuseppe Bono – with which the total units will reach 13, for a new generation project strongly inspired by environmental protection, can only be welcomed with great satisfaction. The strengthening of commercial relations with our customers, and the consolidation of the production guidelines of the Group's shipyards with the synergies that they are able to develop, represent the best proof of the success of the strategies implemented by our company".
“We are pleased to continue our historic collaboration with Fincantieri – he added Jean Emmanuel Sauvee, Ponant CEO -. This agreement for two more ships allows us to develop the Paul Gauguin brand, acquired a few weeks ago, and consolidates our position as world leader in the luxury expedition segment. For the first time in the world of cruising, these two new ships will shut down their engines and cease all emissions every day during each stop, for almost ten hours a day. Ships of contained capacity and at the forefront of technology and in terms of environmental protection: this project fully reflects our philosophy of sustainable tourism”.
