According to Travel Age West, Viking Cruises and Fincantieri have signed a contract for the construction of two additional ships for the cruise line’s new ocean cruising division, bringing the total number of 930-passenger sister ships on order to four. This expansion echoes that of Viking’s river cruise fleet, which will launch 14 new longships in 2014.
The two additional Viking Cruises newbuilds will be sisters to the pair of 47,800 gross tonnage vessels ordered last year. Viking Star, the first of the four, will be delivered in May 2015. Both the second and third vessels are scheduled for 2016, while the fourth will debut in 2017.
Viking Star will sail in the Baltic and throughout Scandinavia next spring. In the colder months the ship will cruise in the Mediterranean.