PHOTO: Viking Cruises Chairman Tor Hagen holds the official plaque from the Guinness World Book of Records commemorating his company's record setting performance. (courtesy Viking Cruises)
It's official! Viking Cruises, which last year set a new world record for ship christenings in one day with eight ships, has now set a new record with 14 ships named within 24 hours.
The Guinness World Book of Records on March 18 officially presented Viking Chairman Tor Hagen with a plaque commemorating the mass christening during a celebratory dinner next to the famed Pont du Gard near Avignon, France.
Viking actually named a total of 16 of its Longships over the last two days, but some of those vessels were already in operation so couldn't technically qualify according Guinness rules.
Longships are Viking's uniquely designed vessels designed to accommodate 190 passengers each on the rivers of Europe. They feature squared off bows and asymmetric corridors, which allow them to fit eight more cabins and 30 more passengers in each vessel, compared to other companies' European river ships.
Every cabin on the third and second decks also has a full balcony. Hagen says these economies of scale allow Viking to charge a lower price than his competitors.
Earlier in the day in Avignon, Viking had christened seven of its new design river ships, three of which were docked side by side in the town and four of which were still in the shipyard in Rostock, Germany. On Monday, March 17, it officially named nine new river ships in Amsterdam
Viking also isn't done yet. It will christen two more ships in Porto, Portugal, on March 21. Neither one of those vessels will be Longships, since they are designed to sail the Douro River in Portugal.
Viking now has 30 Longships, none of which is older than two years. In total, the company will have 53 ships this year. Hagen also says it will build another 10 Longships next year for the European market. Not bad for a company that was started by Hagen 17 years ago in Russia with just four ships.
For those who suggest that Viking is building too many ships, Hagen has the answer: He says his vessels are sold out April through October this year, which is the peak river cruise season in Europe. Viking now claims $1 billion in annual revenues and carries 10,000 passengers a day in season.
Hagen also points to the exponential growth of river cruising. From 2001 to 2014, he says, river cruising grew at an 11 percent annual rate. During the same time, he says, Viking has grown 31 percent per year and at a 40-45 percent growth rate in the last five years alone. Hagen says his company now has a 48 percent share of the river cruise market today, compared with just 20 percent five years ago.
This year's christening festivities began on March 17 with the naming of nine new Longships in Amsterdam. Those vessels included Viking Alsvin, Viking Baldur, Viking Bestla, Viking Delling, Viking Eistla, Viking Gullveig, Viking Ingvi, Viking Lif, Viking Magni.
Viking continued the streak on March 18 with the christening of Viking Buri, Viking Hermod and Viking Heimdal. Simultaneously the company christened the Viking Hlin, Viking Idi, Viking Kara and Viking Kvasir in Rostock, which is where Viking is building its Longship fleet.
Then on March 21 Viking will christen the Viking Torgil and Viking Hemming in Porto, Portugal.
Viking's new ships will offer sailings on such rivers as the Rhine; Maine and Moselle; Danube; Elbe; Dordogne, Garonne and Gironde; Rhone and Saone; Seine; waterways of Holland and Belgium; and Douro.
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