Viking Pledge $250 Million Over Next Three Years

Viking River Cruises has today (Tuesday) released details of its fleet development programme, which includes eight new builds and two refurbishments: a $250 million pledge over the next three years.

By adding eight new cruise ships; the total amount of ships run by the company will be 26 - an increase in capacity of more than 40%. The initial new ship, Viking Prestige, will first appear in Europe in 2011. Viking Emerald will debut in China as a replacement for Viking Century Sun. Additional ships will follow in 2012 and 2013.

“Over the past decade, Viking has established river cruising as a mainstream means of travel,” said Torstein Hagen, Chairman of Viking River Cruises. “At the same time, we believe that river cruising is still in its infancy, and has tremendous growth potential. Our fleet plans will benefit the industry as a whole, by increasing supply in a marketplace in which demand is exceeding available inventory.”

“Innovation, quality and unparalleled service are cornerstones upon which Viking was built,” commented Hagen. “Unlike other river cruise lines, Viking can confidently say that we hire and train all of our own staff aboard our ships, we own many docking locations along Europe’s major rivers and we control every aspect of our product—from nautical and tour planning to service and catering. This is what makes our guests the most satisfied in the industry. We see this consistently confirmed as Viking River Cruises has won virtually all consumer and trade awards—making us the world’s most award-winning river cruise line.”