Ponant Explorations sued after canceling luxury cruise to the North Pole with Russian fortunes

With its icebreaking hull, the Commandant-Charcot , the flagship of the Ponant Explorations cruise line, is the only cruise ship in the world to venture into the polar regions. It is also one of the most luxurious. Launched in 2021, this gleaming liner with its midnight blue hull houses an Alain Ducasse restaurant, a swimming pool, a spa, a hair and nail salon, a cigar lounge, and even heated benches on the upper decks. Intended for a high-end clientele who value discretion, it is today caught in a legal storm.

In the summer of 2024, Ponant Explorations, which belongs to Artémis, the Pinault family's holding company, agreed to charter this luxury icebreaker for a trip to the North Pole to TRVL, a Russian travel agency, for $8,580,000 (€7,340,000). A lucrative contract, but risky. The Russian intermediary through whom an advance of more than $4.5 million was transferred was indicted on June 10 in the United States for laundering $530 million. Yuri Gugnin is suspected by the American justice system of having helped Russian companies purchase sensitive technologies through his cryptocurrency company Evita Investments, registered in the state of Delaware.

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