Video: Viking Line's New Flagship RoPax Launched in China

Viking Line's flagship Viking Glory was floated out from its building dock at XSI Shipyard in Xiamen, China, on Tuesday.

The new 222.6-meter, 63,800gt ro-pax vessel is due to enter service on the Stockholm-Åland-Turku route in early 2022. It will have capacity for 2,800 passengers in 922 cabins and freight capacity of 1,500 lane meters.

The vessel was ordered in 2017 and was initially scheduled to enter service in 2020 following planned delivery at the end of 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted project timelines.

The liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered Viking Glory will offer a 10% improvement in energy efficiency, according to Deltamarin, who worked with Viking Line to develop the vessel design concept, among other aspects of the build project.

The 1 A Super ice class ship will be powered by Wärtsilä 31DF dual fuel engines and ABB Azipod XO propulsion system. ABB is also supplying automation, power management, bow thruster motors and remote diagnostics services.

The ship's Climeon energy recycling system harnesses and converts waste heat from the engines into electricity, generating up to 40% of the electricity required for the passenger functions.