Viking now rules the cruise world, at least in one sense.
The fast-growing cruise brand officially welcomed nine new ships to its fleet on Tuesday at a naming ceremony in Basel, Switzerland, bringing its total to 103 ships.
The addition of the new ships, all designed specifically for river cruising, puts Viking firmly ahead of cruise giant Carnival Corp. as the cruise line with the most ships.
Parent company Carnival Corporation, which owns eight major cruise brands including Carnival Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises and Holland America Line, has reduced the number of ships in recent years and now has just 94 ships in its fleet. As of 2020, the number is 104.
“This is a big day for us,” Viking founder, chairman and CEO Torstein Hagen told dozens of Viking executives, port officials, business partners and media who gathered for the naming event aboard the Viking Honir, one of the nine new ships.
“We’re adding boats all the time, like counting sheep,” he quipped.
The 190-passenger ship will sail on the Rhine from Basel to Amsterdam and is the only one of nine new ships to attend the Basel naming ceremony.
Five of the other eight vessels are on other rivers that will be sailed, including the Nile in Egypt, the Douro in Portugal, the Mekong in Vietnam and the Seine in France. The other three ships are in the final stages of construction at Neptune Shipyard in Rostock, Germany.
Related: Sophisticated Design, Elegant Service: Why I Love Sailing Around the World on Viking Ocean Ships
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Nonetheless, the captains and godmothers (and in some cases, godfathers) of all nine ships were present for the Viking Hornier’s summit ceremony, which included a live video feed of each ship as they were officially christened with Norwegian aquavit smacked on their hulls.
Naming the ship using an aquavit bottle instead of a champagne bottle is a nod to Viking Norse tradition. Hagen, the founder of the Vikings, was a Norwegian.
Tuesday’s events include the unveiling of Viking’s 100th ship, the Viking Honir, just the latest milestone in an extraordinary period of growth for the 28-year-old company.
With the addition of nine new river vessels, Viking now operates 88 river vessels globally, as well as 12 traditional ocean-going vessels and two expedition cruise ships. It also sells a chartered riverboat on the Mississippi River.
As recently as 2012, the company deployed just 29 ships—less than a third of its current operating fleet.
Related: The Ultimate Guide to Viking Cruises and Itineraries
The newly public company, which now has 12,000 employees, is one of the fastest-growing cruise operators in history and shows no signs of slowing growth.
As Hagen noted at Tuesday’s event, the company also has an order book of 31 river vessels that are expected to be delivered by 2030 – a staggering number. It has also ordered 14 ocean-going vessels, which are expected to be delivered in 2033.
These additions will enable the company to achieve passenger capacity growth of more than 50% between now and 2030. By comparison, Carnival Corp.’s projected growth rate during the same period was just under 10%.
Royal Caribbean Group, the second-largest cruise company, expects passenger traffic to grow by about 20% between now and 2030.
The Royal Caribbean Group currently has 68 ships divided into multiple brands, including Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises.
Although Viking currently has more ships than Carnival Corporation or Royal Caribbean Group, it still carries significantly fewer passengers than either company because its average ship size is much smaller.
That said, by some measures, Viking is the most profitable of the three companies, with a return on invested capital of about 40%.
The nine new river ships that Viking Cruises welcomed on Tuesday include four – Viking Annar, Viking Dag, Viking Eldir and Viking Hornier – which will sail the brand’s most popular routes along Europe’s Rhine, Main and Danube rivers.
Related: The 5 Best Destinations You Can Visit on a Viking Cruise
Three other ships – Viking Nerthus, Viking Gyda and Viking Tonle – will sail on the Seine, Douro and Mekong rivers respectively.
Two other new ships named on Tuesday – Viking Toth and Viking Amon – will sail on the Nile.
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