The argument over whether bigger is better or not in the cruise industry will probably never be settled in favour of one side or the other. The fact is, some of us prefer super liners such as the Queen Mary 2 and others prefer a smaller, more intimate cruising experience. For the latter a cruise line like Compagnie du Ponant is the perfect option: with less than 300 passengers on board each ship one will certainly never feel crowded.

With smaller ships one of course needs more of them to carry the same number of passengers. No wonder, therefore, that the company has decided to add an (identical) third ship to twins L’Austral and Le Boreal. The new ship will have a passenger capacity of 264 and increase the number of ships in the Du Ponant fleet to six.

The ship will be built by the Italian shipyard Fincanteri and is scheduled to be launched in June 2013.

Once again the naval architects and design studio Stirling Design International based in Nantes will take care of the exterior design and the interior will be handled by Jean Philippe Nuel.

The Managing Director of Compagnie du Ponant, Jean Emmanuel Sauvée, said “We will continue to fulfil our promise to guests of offering unique itineraries, dream locations off the beaten track, new cultures and close encounters with the wonders of Nature.”