''Le Ponant'' is a three-masted, commercially operated French

luxury yacht A superyacht or megayacht is a large and luxurious pleasure vessel. There are no official or agreed upon definitions for such yachts, but these terms are regularly used to describe professionally crewed motor or sailing yachts, ranging from t ...

operated by

Compagnie du Ponant Ponant (officially, ''Compagnie du Ponant'' ''(CDP)''; "Ponant Company") is a French cruise ship operator. It was founded in April 1988 by Philippe Videau, Jean-Emmanuel Sauvé, and other officers of the French Merchant Navy and launched the fi ...

. The ship has capacity for up to 32 passengers in 16 cabins. It was built 1991 by the Societe Francaise de Construction Navales (SFCN) shipyard in Villeneuve-la-Garenne, France. In 2008, the ship was attacked by

Somali pirates Horn of Africa * Somali Peninsula, a region of East Africa, also known as "The Horn of Africa" * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Greater Somalia ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Somali culture ...

and was only released after a military intervention. In 2022, the yacht was refitted for increased environmental protection to a design by Jean-Philippe Nuel Studio.

Description

On board, ''Le Ponant'' has one restaurant. Le Diamant panoramic restaurant offers buffet breakfast and dinner as well as fine gastronomic cuisine. ''Le Ponant'' was entirely refitted and refurbished in 2022. Having been totally renovated with a design by the Jean-Philippe Nuel Studio, the end result was 16 staterooms for a maximum of 32 guests. ''Le Ponant'', which will navigate under sail as often as possible, includes other improvements such as a dockside connection, an innovative system of SCR filters to eliminate fine particles and reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 90%, waste sorting and a state-of-the-art water treatment system – all to help protect the environment.

2008 Somali pirate attack

On 4 April 2008, ''Le Ponant'' was seized by

in the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden (; ) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channel, the Socotra Archipelago, Puntland in Somalia and Somaliland to the south. ...

while en route from the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...

to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

. The ship carried no passengers at the time of its capture, but all 30 crewmembers were taken hostage; 22 French, 6 Filipino, 1 Cameroonian and 1 Ukrainian. French forces, including the aviso '' Commandant Bouan'', and a Canadian CH-124 helicopter from were monitoring the yacht after its seizure. The hostages were released without incident on 12 April. Following the release, French helicopters from the

Djibouti Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...

military base tracked the pirates to the village of Jariban. French ''commando marine'' and

GIGN The GIGN ( ; ) is the elite police tactical unit of the French National Gendarmerie. Among its missions are counterterrorism, hostage rescue, surveillance of national threats, protection of government officials, critical site protection (such ...

operating from the frigate and the cruiser moved in when the pirates attempted to flee in the desert. A sniper disabled the get-away vehicle, and the commandos were able to capture six men. Local officials claimed that three people died in the raid, with a further eight wounded, but France denied this. Troops also recovered some of the ransom money paid by the owner of the yacht for the release of its crew. The six captured pirates were flown to Paris, where they faced trial in 2012.

Footnotes

References

External links

Compagnie du Ponant official site page about the ship
{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Ponant 1991 ships Battles and conflicts without fatalities Conflicts in 2008 France–Somalia relations Maritime incidents in 2008 Naval battles involving pirates Operations involving French special forces Piracy in Somalia Ships attacked and captured by pirates Ships built in France Ships of Compagnie du Ponant Hijackings in 2008