Torstein Hagen News

Viking Vela, the first of a new series of cruise ships that Fincantieri is building for the shipowner Viking, has been floated out at the shipyard in Ancona. The delivery is scheduled for late 2024.The vessel will be placed in the small cruise ship segment. She will have a gross tonnage of about 54,300 tons, will be equipped with 499 cabins and will be able to accommodate 998 passengers on board.Viking Vela will spend its inaugural season sailing voyages in the Mediterranean and in Northern Europe.“Together with Fincantieri…

Viking has announced the expansion of its river fleet in Southeast Asia with the new Viking Tonle.Designed for the Mekong River, the vessel will join its identical sister ship, the Viking Saigon, which debuted in 2022, and will sail between Kampong Cham, Cambodia, and Mỹ Tho, Vietnam, as part of Viking's 15-day Magnificent Mekong itinerary.The ship is under construction and is currently scheduled to debut in October 2025. To meet strong demand for Mekong River voyages, Viking…

Italian shipbuilding group Fincantieri announced it has delivered the first vessel for luxury cruise operator Viking equipped with an emissions reducing hydrogen fuel cell system.Identical to Viking’s other ocean ships, the 47,800 ton Viking Neptune is fitted with a small hydrogen fuel system, making it the cruise industry’s first ship to test the use of hydrogen power for on board operations. “We are especially proud to welcome this newest sister ship to our ocean fleet, as it also marks a significant advancement in testing hydrogen as a future fuel for our vessels…

Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri has floated out the Viking Saturn, the latest cruise ship Fincantieri is building for the shipowner Viking, at the shipyard in Ancona, Italy.Present at the ceremony were Torstein Hagen, Chairman of Viking, and Pierroberto Folgiero, CEO of Fincantieri. The godmother of the ceremony was Elena Del Mastro, the shipyard employee.The Viking Saturn will be placed in the small cruise ship segment.

Cruise ship operator Viking has this week informed that its first expedition ship – the 378-guest Viking Octantis – was floated, marking a major construction milestone and the first time that the new ship touches water.The float out is important because it denotes a ship moving into its final stage of construction. The float-out ceremony of Viking Octantis took place on December 22. The ship was then moved to a nearby outfitting dock for further construction and interior build-out.

Viking announced it will launch a Mississippi River cruise line with its first vessel, Viking Mississippi, scheduled to sail voyages on the Lower and Upper Mississippi, between New Orleans and St. Paul from August 2022.Purpose-built for the Mississippi and is currently under construction in Louisiana, the five-deck ship will accommodate 386 passengers in 193 all outside staterooms.“At a time where many of us are at home, looking for inspiration to travel in the future, I am pleased to introduce a new, modern way to explore this great river.

A luxury cruise ship that had set sail with almost 1,400 passengers and crew aboard arrived at a port in Norway on Sunday after narrowly escaping disaster when its engines failed during a storm.The Viking Sky sent out a mayday signal on Saturday as it drifted in rough waters in the Norwegian Sea to within 100 metres of land.Rescue services airlifted 479 people, hoisting them one-by- one on to helicopters, before the weather subsided on Sunday and a tow could begin. Many of them were senior citizens.A total of 1,373 people had started the voyage and about 900 people were still on board as the ship arrived at the port of Molde on Norway's west coast."It was very nearly a disaster.

Rescue services had airlifted 479 people to safety from a luxury cruise liner with engine trouble off the coast of Norway by Sunday morning and began towing the vessel to a nearby port.The Viking Sky, with 1,373 passengers and crew on board, sent out a mayday signal on Saturday as it drifted towards land in the Norwegian Sea.The airlift of passengers, many of them elderly, from the Viking Cruises ship by helicopter was halted on Sunday morning as two tugboats started steering the vessel towards the nearest port.Founder and chairman of Viking Cruises, Norwegian billionaire Torstein Hagen, said he hoped the vessel would arrive at the port of Molde on Norway's west coast by Sunday afternoon."They've had a bit of a shocking experience…

Fincantieri's Ancona shipyard has delivered Viking Jupiter, the sixth in a series of 930-passenger ships for Viking Cruises.The delivery ceremony took place this morning when the ship was presented at Fincantieri's shipyard in Ancona, Italy.On February 16, Viking Jupiter will be the first in Viking's fleet to sail the Journey to Antiquities itinerary, a new itinerary sailing between Athens and Rome offering guests the chance to experience the Mediterranean during the quiet season.During its maiden season, Viking Jupiter will sail itineraries throughout the Mediterranean and then Scandinavia. The ship will officially be named in Oslo…

Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri said it has floated out the sixth ocean cruise ship in a series for owner Viking Cruises.The new vessel, Viking Jupiter, which is under construction at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Ancona, will now undergo interior outfitting before its scheduled delivery in 2019.As its sister ships, Viking Jupiter will have a gross tonnage of about 47,800 tons, 465 cabins with accommodation for 930 passengers, placing the vessel in the small cruise ship segment.The float out ceremony included the traditional coin ceremony…

Viking Cruises has announced a new agreement with Fincantieri that could see the delivery of six additional ocean ships by 2027. The new understanding expands Viking's partnership with Fincantieri, raising the company's total ocean ship order and options to 16 – the highest-ever for a shipyard from a single owner. The agreement for the six additional ships, which will be delivered in 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027, is subject to specific conditions. "When we launched our first ocean ship in 2015, we set out to reinvent ocean cruising. We focus on the destination, and we do not cram our ships with gimmicks and waterslides. Our understated, elegant, award-winning ships are designed to simply enable our guests to better explore their destination," said Torstein Hagen, Chairman of Viking.

Viking Cruises is reportedly working on a project to develop a vessel fuelled by liquid hydrogen that could become the world’s first cruise ship with zero-emission technology, according to the Norwegian Maritime Authority (NMA). NMA said the announcement was made by Viking Cruises project manager Serge Fossati during the Safety at Sea Conference in Haugesund. “This is a world sensation. Very exciting. If they pull this off, a distribution network may be established, which will enable others as well to use hydrogen as fuel…

Viking Ocean Cruises and Fincantieri signed a memorandum of agreement for the construction of two additional cruise ships, with an option for another two. The new builds will be sister ships to the six already ordered and will enter Viking fleet in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The final contracts will become effective upon the fulfillment of financing and other customary closing conditions. The new ships will follow the same design as the current ships ordered and in operation. The entire fleet is comprised of all-veranda staterooms; each ship has a gross tonnage of 47,800 tons and accommodates 930 guests in 465 cabins. As with the other sister ships…

Viking Ocean Cruises made its first ever call on a U.S. port when Viking Star docked at Cruiseport Boston. Viking Star began her voyage in Montreal, travelled the St. Lawrence River to Quebec City and Saguenay, continued on to Prince Edward Island and Halifax and, following her stop in Boston, will continue on to New York City later in the week. Officials from Massport and Viking marked the occasion with a traditional plaque and key exchange on board Viking Star while docked at the Cruiseport. “As Cruiseport Boston continues this exciting period of growth, we are thrilled to welcome Viking Ocean Cruises and to offer their passengers the opportunity to explore Boston and the Commonwealth,” said Lisa Wieland, Massport’s Port Director.

Viking Ocean Cruises has announced its second ship—the 930-passenger Viking Sea —was floated out from Fincantieri’s Ancona shipyard, marking a major construction milestone and the first time that the new ship touches water. Viking marked the occasion with a traditional ceremony at Fincantieri’s Ancona shipyard, where the ship is under construction. Karine Hagen, Viking’s senior vice president of product and daughter of Torstein Hagen, will be godmother to Viking Sea and will officially “name” the ship during the christening ceremony in early 2016. “The day that new ship first touches water is always a special day, and today is indeed a proud one for our Viking family,” said Torstein Hagen, founder and chairman of Viking Cruises.

“Viking Sea”, the second of three ships which Fincantieri is currently building for the company Viking Ocean Cruises, was launched today at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Ancona. Interior fittings will now begin, leading the ship to its delivery scheduled in spring 2016. “Viking Star”, the first sister ship, has been delivered in March: Fincantieri is already working on “Viking Sky”, the third unit of the agreement, that will be delivered as well in the shipyard in Ancona at the beginning of 2017. The ceremony was attended by Karine Hagen, godmother of the launching and daughter of Torstein Hagen, founder and CEO of Viking Cruises, while Fincantieri was represented among others by Giovanni Stecconi, Director of the shipyard in Ancona.

With Viking Ocean Cruises officially has its first cruise ship, the group has embraced a new strategy intended to split its growth more evenly between river and ocean cruising. “Viking Star”, the first of three cruise ships which Fincantieri is currently building for Viking, was presented today at Marghera shipyard. The other two sister ships are “Viking Sea” and “Viking Sky”, the company said in its press release. The ceremony was attended by Torstein Hagen, founder and chairman of Viking Cruises, while Fincantieri was represented, among others, by Giuseppe Bono, CEO. Hagen acknowledged that growth in the river cruise business has been slowing slightly, but he said the company’s total growth would not slow, because the new ocean cruise ships will be coming on line.

Governor Bobby Jindal and Viking Cruises Chairman Torstein Hagen announced the selection of New Orleans as the homeport for Viking River Cruises’ first North American river cruise itineraries. The Mississippi River cruises will operate from docking facilities near the French Quarter in New Orleans. Viking’s new service will result in the creation of 416 new direct jobs for Louisiana-based operations and vessel crews, with an average salary of $40,000, plus benefits; and Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project will result in an additional 368 new indirect jobs, for a total of more than 780 new jobs in the Southeast Region of the state.

There is no question that Viking Ocean Cruises is launching an exceptionally innovative series of new ocean-going vessels, layered on its successful series of river cruise vessels, notably the Viking Longships. This list of innovations is a long one, and I’ll have more details about the 930-passenger Viking Star as she approaches her launch in April. Meantime, you’ll find some of the highlights at the bottom of this post. The vessel completed sea trials recently, and as Viking is prone to do, the sea trials were documented in a television-like featurette, which you can view below. The trials, which took place in the Aegean Sea in mid-December, represented the Viking Star’s first voyage in open water.

Viking River Cruises (www.vikingrivercruises.com) set a world record with the christening of 10 new Viking Longships. “Today is a proud day for Viking and for river cruising. We are honored to showcase 10 of our revolutionary new Longships and to have had such a celebrated group of women helping us christen them,” said Torstein Hagen, Chairman of Viking Cruises. Guests at the christening ceremony enjoyed remarks by each godmother and a presentation on the growth of river cruising by Hagen.

Viking Cruises launch Viking Ocean Cruises, the first new cruise line in nearly a decade. Developed from the ground up to return the focus of cruising to the destination, Viking Ocean Cruises will begin sailing in May 2015 with its first vessel—Viking Star—embarking on maiden voyages in Scandinavia and the Baltic; and the Western and Eastern Mediterranean. The company says it  has aggressive expansion plans in both the ocean and river cruise categories, with a second ocean ship on order for delivery in 2016 and conditional orders and options for four more additional ocean vessels.

Viking Cruises say that the keel has been ceremonially laid at Fincantieri's Marghera shipyard outside Venice, Italy, for its first ocean cruise vessel, 'Viking Star'. Steel was first cut for Viking Star in June 2013, and the laying of the keel is a formal recognition of the start of construction. The 930-passenger Viking Star features state-of-the-art design. The company informs that it will also launch a record-breaking 14 new river vessels – Viking Longships® – in March 2014.

Viking Ocean Cruises signs MOU with Fincantieri for construction of two ocean cruise ships with an option for another two. The new ships will be twins to those ordered earlier this year. In line with Viking’s intimate, destination-focused approach to cruising, the ships will be small by today’s standards at approximately 48,000 grt. The related ship contracts will be completed subject to the customary closing conditions. The agreement, which strengthens the preferred relationship between the two companies, also includes a series of joint initiatives to study possibilities of liquefied natural gas (LNG) propulsion. Torstein Hagen, Chairman of Viking…