By
Alice Chambers |
Viking Line’s new ferry, Viking Glory, will be a testament to Finnish maritime design, with almost 100 per cent of work on the ship having been completed by companies in Finland and other Nordic countries.
The project for the new ferry was launched five years ago, with project management and construction work being organised by Viking Line. Companies involved in the building and outfitting of Viking Glory include ABB, Almaco Group, Climeon, Deltamarin, ICF Group, Hartwall, Koncept, Kone, Piantek, Scenso, Stanley, TSI and Wärtsilä.
“Viking Glory in itself is a major innovation with a lot of new cleantech solutions,” said Kari Shao, project manager for Viking Glory. “It has been fantastic collaborating with Finnish and other Nordic companies with cutting-edge expertise, such as Wärtsilä, Kone and ABB. The planning and technology for our flagship is nearly 100 per cent Finnish work, and we’re very proud of this. We’ve also taken part in different European Union projects and, now with Glory, we are the first shipping company to make use of new technology developed in the project.”
Viking Glory was built at XSI Shipyard in Xiamen, China, and travelled back to Finland in January, arriving at the Port of Turku on 6 February 2022. The vessel will begin operating on 1 March, travelling between Turku, Finland; Mariehamn, Åland Islands; and Stockholm, Sweden.
Between now and 1 March, Viking Line’s partners will complete Viking Glory’s interiors, adding shelving, installing beverage dispensing systems, fitting 3,000 Finnish-made mattresses, and more.
“Those of us who have built Viking Glory are nearly done with our part of the work, and now it’s time for the crew to take over,” said Shao. “This has been a fantastic project for me – together with our partners, we’ve succeeded in building a top-quality cruise vessel. I’d like to invite all our passengers to come enjoy the results of our work.”