zoomImage Courtesy: Fincantieri

Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri held a keel laying ceremony for Viking Spirit, the fifth of six cruise ships ordered by Viking Ocean Cruises, on February 16 at the shipyard in Ancona.

The first building block of the ship, about 11 meters long, 28,8 meters wide and weighing about 280 tons, is part of the central section of the new cruise vessel, scheduled for delivery in 2018.

As its sister ships, Viking Spirit will also be placed in the small cruise ship segment. With a gross tonnage of about 47,800 tons, it will have 473 cabins with accommodation for 946 passengers, with a total capacity of over 1,400 people, including the crew.

“The Viking Ocean Cruises units are all built according to the latest navigation regulations and equipped with the most modern safety systems, including the Safe return to port,” Fincantieri said.

The shipbuilder added that the new cruise ships feature “the most advanced technologies for energy saving and for meeting the strictest environmental regulations with energy-efficient engines and an exhaust gas cleaning system.”

Viking Star, the first cruise ship from the batch, has been built at the shipyard in Marghera and delivered in March 2015. The company’s second and third ships, Viking Sea and Viking Sky, took the sea from the shipyard in Ancona in March 2016 and January 2017, respectively, while the shipbuilder launched the fourth cruise ship Viking Sun in December 2016.

The sixth and the final unit of the series will be delivered in 2019, Fincantieri said.