Fincantieri floats out Viking Neptune

Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri has floated out Viking Neptune, the newest ocean cruise ship of the Swiss cruise line Viking, at its shipyard in Ancona.

Like its other small cruise sister ships, Viking Neptune is about 47,800 tons with 465 cabins and accommodation for 930 passengers.

The ship, eighth of this class, was built according to the latest navigation regulations and equipped with modern safety systems, including the “safe return to port”, the shipbuilder described.

It also features energy-efficient engines, optimised hydrodynamics and hull thereby reducing consumption, as well as systems that minimise pollution produced by exhaust gases, meeting the strictest environmental regulations.

The Fincantieri-Viking partnership began in 2012 when the shipowner entered the ocean cruise market as a start-up.

Today, the cooperation that first began with an order for two ships has reached a total of 20 units, which is, according to Fincantieri, the largest number of units ordered to a shipbuilder by one sole shipowner.

The list includes the order awarded to Vard for two expedition cruise ships, Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris, and the options. Other nine units, options included, will take to the sea from the shipbuilder’s Italian yards in the next years.

Viking Octantis,  especially designed and developed for expeditions in the Arctic, Antarctica and North America’s Great Lakes, was delivered at the end of December 2021.

The ship is regarded as the largest vessel built by Vard so far. At the same time, it was the ninth cruise unit completed in 2021 in Fincantieri’s domestic and foreign sites.