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Cruise News for the Corporate Travel Professional

July 2013 Edition

Viking cuts steel for first ocean-going cruise ship

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In a ceremony this week, Viking Cruises cut the first steel for its first ocean cruise ship, Viking Star, which is scheduled to be completed in early 2015, and to begin sailing that April as part of the new Viking Ocean Cruises line.

The cutting took place at Fincantieri's Marghera shipyard outside Venice, Italy.

The 928-passenger ship will sail its maiden cruises in Scandinavia and the Baltic, and the Western and Eastern Mediterranean. A second ocean ship is scheduled for delivery in 2016, with conditional orders and options for four more additional ocean vessels, the line says.

"This is a big step towards realizing our ocean cruising plans," line chairman Torstein Hagen said in a statement. "With our new ocean cruises, we are applying the same principles behind our award-winning river cruises -- small, intimate ships with destination-focused itineraries that allow guests to experience privileged access excursions and onboard cultural experiences."

Viking, a leader in river cruising, has not operated ocean cruises. The company's fast-growing Viking River Cruises line operates more than 30 vessels, including 10 new ships unveiled in March in Amsterdam. The company has 12 more river ships on order for 2014.

Viking Ocean Cruises will be the first major ocean line to debut in nearly a decade and enters an arena dominated by a handful of big players such as Miami-based Carnival Corp. and Royal Caribbean Cruises. Carnival Corp. owns 10 brands that offer ocean cruises, including Carnival, Princess, Holland America and Seabourn, and accounts for nearly half of the worldwide ocean cruise business. Royal Caribbean owns five ocean cruise brands, including Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Azamara.

Viking Ocean Cruises likely will compete most directly with Azamara, which operates two upscale, 710-passenger ships, and Oceania Cruises, which has four upscale ships that carry from 684 to 1,250 passengers.