The luxury cruise sector gained a new flagship on Thursday as Orient Express and the French shipbuilder Chantiers de l’Atlantique formally named Orient Express Corinthian, the world’s largest sailing yacht, at the historic Joubert graving dock in Saint-Nazaire.
Flying the French ensign, the 220-metre, 15,000-tonne vessel will leave the Atlantic port on 2 May 2026, bound for the Côte d’Azur and her inaugural Mediterranean season. Her arrival is being positioned by the operator as the start of a new chapter in premium maritime travel, marrying French decorative craftsmanship with the most advanced naval engineering currently afloat.
At 720 feet from stem to stern, Corinthian is the first cruise ship to be fitted with the SolidSail wind propulsion system, developed in-house by Chantiers de l’Atlantique. Her three fully automated rigs each carry 1,500 sq m of sail and rise to more than 320 feet above the waterline. Rotating through a full 360 degrees and trimming automatically on any point of sail, the rigs are capable of delivering 100 per cent wind-powered propulsion in favourable conditions.
The carbon masts, designed and built in Brittany and the Pays de la Loire, can be canted to 70 degrees, allowing the ship to clear the world’s principal bridges without difficulty, a critical consideration for a vessel intended to operate across global itineraries.
Sea trials conducted in February confirmed the system’s commercial promise. In 20 knots of breeze, Corinthian recorded 12 knots under sail alone, a performance the yard says is unprecedented for a ship of her size. Wind power is supplemented by hybrid liquefied natural gas propulsion and an extensive suite of energy-efficiency measures, earning the vessel the best Energy Efficiency Design Index rating in her class, comfortably ahead of any comparable ship.
An AI-assisted detection system continuously scans for marine mammals and floating debris to mitigate collision risk, while dynamic positioning removes the need to anchor, protecting the seabed in sensitive cruising grounds.
The naming comes a century after the launch of the Île-de-France from the same yards that produced the legendary Normandie, a lineage Orient Express is keen to invoke. Some 2,000 craftsmen, artists and ateliers, coordinated by Chantiers de l’Atlantique and working to a brief from Maxime d’Angeac, Orient Express’s Creative Director, contributed to a wholly French-built vessel whose interiors reference the golden age of rail and ocean travel in a deliberately spare, contemporary register.
Corinthian carries 54 suites, ranging from 45 to 230 sq m across four decks. Each features a 3.6-metre panoramic window and deckhead heights raised 25 cm above prevailing industry standards. Leathers, precious wood veneers and marble dominate the palette, and every cabin is attended by a dedicated butler.
Five restaurants and private dining rooms are under the culinary direction of multi-Michelin-starred chef Yannick Alléno. Eight bars, among them an Art Deco speakeasy, sit alongside a 115-seat cabaret and a recording studio. A Guerlain spa, a 16.5-metre swimming lane, a separate pool and a marina round out the wellness and leisure programme. All is sold on a fully inclusive basis, in line with the upper end of the ultra-luxury cruise market.
The Joubert graving dock, built between the wars to handle the fitting-out of the Île-de-France and later the birthplace of the Normandie, provided a deliberately resonant backdrop. Proceedings opened with an aerial salute from four Fouga Magister jets in the colours of the tricolore, a nod to Saint-Nazaire’s parallel heritage in aeronautics, which grew out of the same engineering and metalwork skills as its shipyards from the 1920s onwards. The hoisting of Corinthian’s three SolidSail rigs preceded the speeches.
Catherine Chabaud, France’s Minister Delegate for the Sea and Fisheries, formally presented the French ensign to Laurent Castaing, conferring on the vessel the right to fly the national colours.
At the Penhoët quay, work is already well advanced on Corinthian’s sister yacht, Orient Express Olympian, which was launched on 17 April 2026 and is now in the fitting-out phase, confirming Orient Express’s intent to build a small fleet capable of competing at the very top of the experiential cruise market.