Viking has taken delivery of the river vessel Viking Eldir, the newest addition to the company’s fleet of Viking Longships. The ship was constructed at the Neptun Werft facility in Rostock-Warnemünde and will operate itineraries along the major European waterways of the Rhine River, Main River and Danube River.
The vessel accommodates 190 passengers in 95 staterooms and joins the company’s expanding fleet of sister ships designed specifically for European river navigation. According to the company’s chairman and chief executive officer, Torstein Hagen, the addition of the ship forms part of the operator’s continued fleet expansion and is intended to support the line’s strategy of bringing passengers closer to destinations along Europe’s principal rivers through centrally located docking facilities. He indicated that the company expects the new vessel to allow more travelers to experience river voyages across the region within the framework of Viking’s established onboard standards.
Designed for the waterways of Central Europe, Viking Eldir incorporates the company’s Scandinavian design approach and several technical and spatial features typical of the Viking Longship series. Among these are a square bow intended to maximize interior space, three full passenger decks, an indoor–outdoor Aquavit Terrace, an asymmetric corridor layout and two-room suite accommodations. The vessel is scheduled to operate several established itineraries including Rhine Getaway, Grand European Tour, Passage to Eastern Europe, European Sojourn and Christmas on the Rhine.
The delivery also forms part of the broader long-term fleet development program pursued by Viking. Based on its current orderbook, the company expects to add 22 additional river vessels by 2028, along with 10 ocean-going ships and two expedition vessels scheduled for delivery by 2031. Upon completion of these orders, the company projects that its fleet will consist of 112 river ships by 2028 and a combined total of 25 ocean and expedition vessels by 2031.