Viking, formerly known as Viking Cruises, is a cruise line that has established itself as a leader in providing river, ocean, and expedition cruises. Founded in 1997 by Torstein Hagen as Viking River Cruises in St. Petersburg, Russia, the company has grown to offer destination-focused itineraries for curious travelers across all seven continents. Each journey includes a shore excursion in every port, along with onboard and onshore enrichment programs designed for deep immersion in the destination through music, art, cooking demonstrations, informative port talks, and guest lecturers.
Viking Longship on the Rhine
Company History and Expansion
Torstein Hagen's involvement in the cruise industry began as a consultant for McKinsey and Company, where he helped Holland America Line navigate the 1973 oil crisis. He later served as CEO of the Royal Viking Line from 1980 to 1984. After gaining experience in the Russian private equity markets, Hagen acquired a controlling stake in a Dutch shipping company. In 2000, Viking purchased KD River Cruises of Europe, expanding its fleet to 26 vessels and becoming the world's largest river cruising fleet.
The company expanded into the North American market in 2000, establishing a sales and marketing office in Los Angeles, California. Since then, Viking has grown to a fleet of more than 90 vessels, offering river, ocean and expedition voyages on all seven continents. The company revamped the ships, aiming for its target demographic of older travelers.
Fleet and Destinations
Since its establishment, Viking has significantly expanded its fleet and offerings:
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- River Cruises: Viking operates a large fleet of Viking Longships that sail on Europe’s storied rivers. The fleet offers a variety of stateroom categories and true two-room suites with full-size verandas. Onboard amenities include a restaurant, bar and lounge, library and expansive sun deck. Destinations also include the Nile River in Egypt and the Mekong River in Southeast Asia.
- Ocean Cruises: Viking introduced its destination-focused ocean voyages in 2015. The award-winning fleet is comprised of small, all-veranda sister ships that are engineered at a size allowing direct access to most ports. Viking’s ocean fleet features an elegant Scandinavian design with abundant public space and attention to detail. Ocean itineraries are designed to maximize the amount of time travelers spend in their destination.
- Expedition Cruises: In 2022, Viking launched expedition voyages with the arrival of the 378-guest Polar Class Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris. The ships are optimally sized and built for expeditions, at an ideal size for safety, comfort and onboard amenities in remote destinations.
Being one-third the size of many cruise ships being built by major cruise lines, this allows the Viking Star-class to enter into smaller ports. Its overall length is 745.4 ft. (227.2 m); its beam is 94.5 ft. (28.8 m); the draft is 20.7 ft.
In 2017-2018, Viking Sun made the company's first round-the-world cruise, which departed from Miami, and sailed south to head through the Panama Canal, and planned to visit five continents, 35 countries and 64 ports before ending its 141-day journey in London. In May 2018, Viking Cruises announced its intention to launch a new package called Ultimate World Cruise, which it claimed to be the longest continuous world cruise itinerary in history.
Technological Innovation and Future Developments
Viking is committed to innovation and sustainability. In October 2017, Viking Cruises revealed it was working on a project to develop the world's first cruise ship powered by liquid hydrogen. Once developed, the ship would measure approximately 230 m (750 ft) long and accommodate 900 passengers and 500 crew members. In late 2026, Viking plans to take delivery of the Viking Libra, the world's first hydrogen-powered cruise ship, capable of operating with zero emissions.
In April 2018, Viking Cruises and VARD announced Viking had signed a contract to order two "special" cruise ships from VARD that are expected to enter service in 2021 and 2022, with an option for two more. Planned to be built in Romania and Norway, the value of the contract was estimated to be worth around 5 billion Norwegian krone (about $611 million).
Viking’s ocean ships have been designed to be environmentally considerate, with an energy-efficient hull, propeller and rudder arrangements and engines with heat recovery systems. This allows ships to reach the best Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI)* in its class, exceeding the 2025 International Maritime Organization (IMO) requirements by almost 20 percent. Viking’s expedition vessels have set a new standard for responsible travel, with an energy-efficient design that exceeds the current EEDI* requirements by nearly 38 percent-more than any other expedition ship.
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*Since January 1, 2013, the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) was made mandatory for new ships, requiring a minimum energy efficiency level per capacity mile.
Viking Environmental Responsibility
Awards and Recognition
With more than 450 awards to its name, Viking is a leader in the industry and was rated #1 for Rivers, #1 for Oceans (for ships sized 500 to 2,500 berths) and #1 for Expeditions by Condé Nast Traveler in the 2023 Readers’ Choice Awards. This is the first time a travel company has been voted #1 in all three categories simultaneously.
Incidents
Like any large cruise operator, Viking has faced its share of incidents:
- On 23 March 2019, Viking Sky put out a mayday call after she suffered an engine failure off the coast of Norway. Six of Norway's fourteen rescue helicopters were sent to the scene, and 460 passengers were evacuated before the ship travelled to Molde under her own power.
- On 29 May 2019, Viking Sigyn, during a sightseeing tour on the Danube, collided with a small tour boat, the Hableány, in Budapest, Hungary. Hableány sank with 35 people on board of whom 28 died.
- On 29 November 2022, the Viking Polaris was hit by a rogue wave during a storm off the coast of Argentina. A glass screen was shattered and a female passenger was killed by flying glass.
Environmental Practices
Friends of the Earth publishes a Cruise Ship Report Card, grading cruise lines on their environmental practices. The grades are based on information understood to be accurate as of September 18, 2024. The evaluation includes:
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- Sewage Treatment: Comparing the number of ships with advanced sewage treatment systems (AWTS) against the total number of ships in the cruise line.
- Air Pollution Reduction: Grading ships that dock at a port and plug in to available shoreside power hookups. Credit is also given for using low sulfur fuels worldwide at levels lower than required by international law. Ships are downgraded if they have adopted the use of liquified natural gas, which emits significantly more life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions over the short-term than low sulfur fuel.
- Water Quality Compliance: Evaluating cruise ships that have installed exhaust gas scrubbers. While scrubbers reduce some air pollution, most discharge contaminated, toxic wastewater.
- Transparency: Assessing whether the cruise line responded to requests for information regarding their environmental practices.
Friends of the Earth relied on data gathered from the internet, government sources, the cruise line industry, and other public sources in order to determine the grades assigned to the cruise lines.
Sponsorships
Since 2011, Viking has sponsored programming on PBS's Masterpiece Theatre, including Downton Abbey, Sherlock and Poldark, and is a sponsor of National Geographic's Genius, a scripted series about the life of Albert Einstein. Viking has also sponsored the Los Angeles Philharmonic at The Hollywood Bowl, Metropolitan Opera, BBC, Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway, and Mariinsky Theatre in St.
In 2018, Viking Cruises had reached $3 billion in revenue and carried 440,000 passengers annually, employing more than 8,000 employees.
Here is a summary table of Viking's key milestones:| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1997 | Founded as Viking River Cruises in St. Petersburg, Russia |
| 2000 | Expanded into the American market; Purchased KD River Cruises of Europe |
| 2015 | Introduced destination-focused ocean voyages |
| 2022 | Launched expedition voyages with Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris |
| 2026 (planned) | To take delivery of Viking Libra, the world's first hydrogen-powered cruise ship |