Viking sails past major milestone with nine new river ships

• Viking now has over 100 ships in its fleet across river, ocean and expedition categories.
• The milestone was achieved by welcoming nine new river ships into the Viking family.
• All nine ships have been given names at a big naming ceremony in Basel, Switzerland.

Viking has two reasons to celebrate this week. The Thinking Person’s Cruise has just welcomed nine new river ships for sailings across six countries. And in doing so, the company has also named its 100th ship, marking an uncommon milestone during a simultaneous ceremony in Basel, Switzerland.

The nine new river ships will be split by destination based on the following:

Viking River Ship	Intineraries	Godparent
Viking Annar	Rhine, Maine and Danube Rivers	Michelle Patterson, Senior Vice President, Corporate Controller, Viking
Viking Dagur	Rhine, Maine and Danube Rivers	Sara Conley, Senior Vice President of Brand, Creative and Communications, Viking
Viking Eldir	Rhine, Maine and Danube Rivers	Yumi Kim, Senior Vice President of Finance, Europe, Viking
Viking Honir	Rhine, Maine and Danube Rivers	Michele Saegesser, Vice President, Trade Development and Training, Viking
Viking Nerthus	Seine River	Allison Becker, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Viking
Viking Gyda	Douro River	Chitra Goswami, Senior Vice President of Finance, Viking
Viking Tonle	Mekong River	Laura Perlman, Senior Vice President of Marketing Planning, International & Product, Viking
Viking Thoth	Nile River	Youssef Fouad Amin, Chief Executive Officer & Chairman, Sherry Nile Cruises
Viking Amun	Nile River	Sherif El Banna, Chief Executive Officer, Cosmos Egypt

With the new delivery, Viking now has more ships than any other cruise line across all its categories.

“We are proud to name our newest river ships and to honor the nine distinguished members of our extended Viking family serving as their godparents,” said Torstein Hagen, Viking’s Chairman and CEO.

“We have always been quite different from others in the travel industry… over the last 28 years, we have grown from four ships to more than 100 – a fleet size that no other line has achieved – and we have done so because of our innovative approach.”

---

The Viking naming ceremony is a time-honoured tradition

Viking is no stranger to big, multi-ship naming ceremonies. Remember when the company christened 16 ships in 24 hours in 2014? Only to then welcome two more in Portugal. Back then, however, Viking only had 52 vessels in its fleet, which now comprises 100-plus ships across its river, ocean and expedition categories.

For thousands of years, it’s been an ancient maritime tradition for each new ship to have a ceremonial godfather. Viking holds this custom close, appointing individuals who have made an impact, whether in the wider world or in the Viking ecosystem, as godparents to these ships.

For its nine newest river ships, the company invited colleagues and partners to share in the honour. You can find each ship’s respective godparent listed in the table above.

The naming ceremony took place in Basel on board Viking Honir but was broadcast live to the eight other ships while they were docked in five other countries around the world, including Vietnam, Germany and Egypt. And it would have been such an exciting affair, with guests at the naming event enjoying performances by one of the world’s leading crossover sopranos, Sissel Kyrkjebø, Norwegian violinist Tor Jaran Apold and more.

For more information, visit viking.com.au.