Navin Sawhney, who spent the last decade as Ponant’s CEO of the Americas, died on May 23.
Sawhney, who stepped down from the small-ship cruise line in March and planned to remain with the brand as a strategic advisor, died after a six-year battle with cancer. He was 69.
Sawhney spent more than 40 years in the travel industry, including a tenure at Holland America Line as a marketing planning manager, where he met his wife. He also served as senior vice president of marketing at Cunard Line and senior vice president of sales and marketing at Tauck World Discovery.
He moved to Ponant in 2014 and served as COO and later CEO of the Americas.
Sawhney led the line through the Covid pandemic. Ponant was one of the first cruise lines to resume sailing, a decision Sawhney said he hoped would establish that cruising could resume safely.
Sawhney was born in New Delhi, India. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1978 with a degree in corporate law from Delhi University and attended the University of Bridgeport as an MBA exchange student. He became a U.S. citizen in 1989.