On May 21, 2022, one of the latest cruise ships in the PONANT EXPLORER series, Le Bellot, was officially christened during her maiden port of call in Honfleur (France).
The ceremony was attended by the godmother of the vessel, Adelaide de Clermont-Tonnerre, writer and winner of the Grand Prix de l’Academie Francaise for The Last of Our Kind, as well as Editor-in-Chief of Point de Vue magazine who is on the Board of Directors of PONANT, with music by the Finistere Regional Orchestra.
Alongside Le Bellot’s godmother were Herve Gastinel, CEO of PONANT; Christophe Buisson, town counselor, Tourist Office President & Vice-President of the Community of Communes du Pays de Honfleur-Beuzeville; Michele Prevost, Joseph-Rene Bellot’s great-grandniece; Capt. Maxime Benoit and Capt. Quentin Dubois.
The yacht will now set sail for the Americas Following a Transatlantic crossing from Europe (via Iceland and Greenland), Le Bellot is due to reach Canada by September 2022.
The PONANT EXPLORERS series represents a new generation of France-flagged cruise ships, fitted with the latest marine technologies and complying with the latest IMO regulations.
Each of these boats has 92 staterooms (including 4 suites), all fitted with a plate glass window and a step-out balcony. The PONANT EXPLORERS have max passenger capacity 184 plus 118 crew/staff. They are designed for landing in inaccessible locations, where other ships do not go.
Advertised as "expedition yachts", of the same "Explorer-class" series are also the sisterships Le Champlain (2018), Le Laperouse (2018), Le Bougainville (2019), Le Dumont d'Urville (fka Le Kerguelen) (2019) and Le Jacques Cartier (fka Le Surville) (2020) - all named after famous French sea explorers.