Ponant takes caring for the sensitive environments in which its ships operate very seriously, says international sales director Stephen Winter.
"Everything from the food we source, interaction with the local people, reducing plastic, and recycling water to teaming up with scientists who can use our ships for research,” he says.
Since 1 January, Ponant has stopped using heavy fuel oil and instead burns low-sulphur marine gasoil — a year ahead of the IMO sulphur cap.
Asked about the new LNG-fuelled/hybrid electric polar icebreaker, one broking source tells TradeWinds: “You couldn’t have made it any greener today unless it was completely electric.”
In collaboration with French shipyard Chantiers de l’Atlantique, the operator has also been testing a new type of solid sail for its Le Ponant that is made of fibreglass, carbon and epoxy resin panels to reduce energy consumption.
And Winter says with 20 years' experience of cruising in the Arctic and Antarctic, the company is well positioned to provide the next generation of officers.
“We have experienced captains and are training young people to make sure this knowledge is maintained,” he says.
Most have graduated from the French naval academies.
Meanwhile, Winter says Ponant is conscious of the dangers of “trailblazing in a lot of places where not everything is mapped”.
For example, the company was fined when one of its ships — the L’Austral — grounded on an uncharted rock off New Zealand last October.
It was claimed the vessel was being navigated at the time without a passage plan. Another incident in the Chilean fjords damaged a vessel’s propeller.
Several years ago, the sail ship Le Ponant was seized by pirates off Somalia and later released after the payment of a ransom. French Navy forces pursued and captured the pirates. Only crew were onboard at the time.
