Viking, which built its brand starting with river cruises in Europe and moving on into ocean cruising is almost ready to take on the expedition cruise market, with its first expedition ship floating out this week. The ship is scheduled for its first cruise in early 2022 after interior fitting and sea trials.
It's the first of two—and eventually possibly more—identical ships being built for Viking by Vard in Norway. Vard is a specialty division of the Fincantieri ship-building company that has built all of Viking's fleet of identical 930-passenger ocean ships. The expedition ships, Octantis and Polaris, are rated for a maximum of 378 passengers. The second ship will enter service late in 2022.
The public spaces on the new ships will resemble those familiar to passsengers on Viking's river and ocean offerings with Scandinavian design and a quiet feel, but with a few additions including an onboard research laboratory and a system that will launch small vessels for close-up exploring from inside the ship. The ships are designed for Polar Class 6, which allows them to operate in summer and autumn medium ice conditions.
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