Following the agreement signed in April 2017 between Fincantieri and Viking Ocean Cruises, the contracts for the construction of the 7th and 8th ships became effective and, in addition, the company announced in December that it has exercised the option for the 9th and the 10th vessel in the series.
The new vessels will be sisterships of the previous series ordered, four of which have been delivered. The ships have a gt of 47,800 and can accommodate 930 guests in 465 all-veranda cabins, built according to the latest navigation regulations and equipped with the most modern safety systems, including the “Safe return to port” system.
The first of the series, ‘Viking Star’, built at Fincantieri Marghera, was delivered in March, 2015; the second, the third, and the fourth, ‘Viking Sea’, ‘Viking Sky’ and ‘Viking Sun’, built at Ancona, were delivered in March, 2016, January and September, 2017, respectively.
The other six, including the exercised options, will be delivered in 2018, 2019, 2021, two in 2022 and 2023.
Viking’s fifth ship, the ‘Viking Orion’ is due to be introduced in the summer of 2018 and the sixth, as yet unnamed, sister ship is due to be delivered in the spring of 2019.
Drydock work on the sixth ship began with a keel laying ceremony on 18th October, 2017, at Fincantieri’s Ancona shipyard.
Upon the delivery of the sixth ship, Viking will have 5,580 berths, which will make it the largest small ship cruise line, the company claimed.
In October, 2017, Viking also announced that it had placed an order for seven new river ships, including six additional Viking Longships and one additional vessel based on the Longships design that will sail on Portugal’s Douro River.
The new river cruise ships will enter service in 2019.
