The keel laying ceremony for “Viking Spirit”, the fifth of six cruise ships Viking Ocean Cruises has ordered from Fincantieri, took place today at the shipyard in Ancona, the shipbuilding group said in a media release.
The first building block of the ship, about 11 meters long, 28.8 wide and weighing about 280 tons, is part of the central section of “Viking Spirit”, due to delivery in 2018.
“Viking Spirit”, as its sister ships, will be placed in the small cruise ship segment. In fact, with a gross tonnage of about 47,800 tons, it will have 473 cabins with accommodation for 946 passengers, with a total capacity of over 1,400 people, including the crew.
The Viking Ocean Cruises units are all built according to the latest navigation regulations and equipped with the most modern safety systems, including the “Safe return to port”.
Furthermore, they feature the most advanced technologies for energy saving and for meeting the strictest environmental regulations with energy-efficient engines and an exhaust gas cleaning system.
The first of the series, “Viking Star”, has been built at the shipyard in Marghera and delivered in March 2015.
“Viking Sea” and “Viking Sky”, took the sea from the shipyard in Ancona respectively in March 2016 and January 2017. “Viking Sun”, launched in December 2016 in the same shipyard, will enter into service in autumn 2017, while “Viking Spirit”, whose dry dock works started today, and the sixth and last unit of the series, will instead be delivered respectively in 2018 and 2019.
Fincantieri has built 76 cruise ships from 1990 to today, while other 31 are currently being designed or built in the Group’s yards.