Viking will restart sailings along the coast of England onboard its newest ship Viking Venus in May this year.

The new round-trip sailings from Portsmouth will be confined to UK residents only. Viking will offer eight-day itineraries, England’s Scenic Shores, departing on 22, 29 May and 5 June.

Viking was the first cruise line to suspend operations at the start of the pandemic in March last year. The resumption of domestic cruising in England was triggered by the UK Government’s recent announcement that it will allow domestic cruises to restart in May this year.

“We welcome the UK Government’s support for the return of safe domestic cruises as an important component in the travel industry’s recovery,” said Viking’s chairman, Torstein Hagen.

To celebrate the debut of Viking’s latest ship, Viking Venus will have a British Godmother, broadcaster and journalist, Anne Diamond who will christian the new ship in the UK on 17 May.

Mr Hagen said Viking is ready to start sailing in May because “we have kept our ships crewed during warm lay-up throughout the past 12 months.

“We have been implementing our additional protocols, including daily quick and easy non-invasive saliva PCR tests for our crew, for almost six months now.

“With our new protocol enhancements in place, we believe there will be no safer way to travel the world than on a Viking voyage and we look forward to welcoming UK guests back on board very soon,” Mr Hagen said.

When Viking returns to the sea in May, it will introduce new enhanced health and safety protocols including a daily, quick and easy, non-invasive saliva PCR tests for all guests and crew members.

There will be a full-scale laboratory installed in every Viking ship to conduct these tests. New air purification technology will also be installed on all ships with independent air-handling units for all staterooms. In addition, there will be health checks, sanitisation and physical distancing measures introduced to provide further protection for passengers and crew

For more information visit www.viking.com/health-safety and vikingcruises.com.au