and tourism founded 1997 1997 headquarters switzerland key people torstein hagen founder and chairman products river cruises and ocean cruises subsidiaries viking river cruises viking ocean cruises website www.vikingcruises.com viking cruises is a privately owned professionally managed company offering river and ocean cruises . its destination focused river and ocean itineraries are designed for experienced travelers with an interest in geography culture and history . it is the parent company of viking river cruises and viking ocean cruises . in 2015 the company began offering ocean cruises on ocean vessels that sail the coasts of scandinavia and the british isles and the waters of the baltic sea and the mediterranean sea . viking has a primary sales office in the united states secondary sales offices in the united kingdom and australia and operational offices in switzerland . viking cruises was initially founded as viking river cruises in 1997 by a scandinavian and dutch consortium . viking river cruises expanded into the american market in 2000 establishing u.s. headquarters in los angeles california . 1 over time the company has acquired and refurbished additional ships and built new ones . as of 2015 it operates a fleet of 64 ships . the company employs more than 4 000 staff worldwide and it markets its river cruises primarily to english speaking customers in north america the united kingdom and australia . 2 contents 1 company history 2 river cruising 2.1 river cruise ship design innovations 3 fleet 3.1 ships cruising in europe 3.2 ships cruising in russia 3.3 ships cruising in asia 3.4 ships cruising in egypt 4 ocean cruising 4.1 sister ship design 4.2 amenities 4.3 technical specifications 4.4 future ships 4.5 fleet 5 awards 5.1 viking river cruises 5.2 viking ocean cruises 6 media 7 references 8 external links company history edit in the mid 1990s the company s founder and chairman torstein hagen took a river cruise through russia . the experience inspired him to create a river cruise company in 1997 so that others could enjoy similar experiences . educated at norwegian institute of technology and harvard business school mr. hagen was formerly ceo of royal viking line and also served on the boards of holland america line and kloster cruise ltd. 3 the company s board of directors includes prominent investors and financial leaders with credentials in cruising and shipping and is led by chairman hagen a native of norway . 4 the company started with the purchase of four russian vessels in 1997 . the following year it acquired additional ships and continued to cater to european passengers . in 2000 viking purchased europe s kd river cruises which was founded in 1827 5 though kd retained its rhine line passenger ferries scheduled services and day excursion operations . the acquisition added more ships to viking s fleet bringing its total to 26 the largest fleet in the world 6 and gave the company rights to prime docking locations in key european cities . since 2000 the company has built nearly all of its own river ships uniquely designed longships adding 6 to the fleet in 2012 10 of the same in 2013 18 in 2014 and 12 in 2015 . the number of ships built in 2013 and 2014 represented a world record and was noted in the guinness book of world records . 7 the company expanded into china in april 2004 with yangtze river cruisetours itineraries that combine a river cruise with hotel stays in various cities like beijing and shanghai . 8 since then the company has adopted this model to other regions including europe and southeast asia . on may 17 2013 the company announced the launch of an ocean cruise division 9 of small ocean going vessels and modified its name to viking cruises . in 2015 its first ship viking star began sailing itineraries in scandinavia and the baltic and on the mediterranean sea . with a float out in june 2015 10 the company launched its second ship viking sea in 2016 and has scheduled the launch of viking sky and viking sun for 2017 and two more by 2020 . a planned expansion into the united states along the mississippi river was announced on february 24 2015 . viking s home port will be new orleans louisiana with vessels cruising north to memphis tennessee ; st. louis missouri ; or st. paul minnesota . service is expected to begin in late 2017 using two ships with the fleet expanding to six by 2019 . each vessel will have a capacity of about 300 . 11 river cruising edit viking longship odin sailing on the danube river arrives in budapest hungary . viking river cruises the river cruise division of viking cruises offers scenic cruising along the rivers of europe russia china southeast asia and egypt . since its 1997 inception the company has grown to a fleet of 64 river vessels . viking s european ships have a typical capacity of 190 passengers ; its russian ships capacity averages just over 200 and its china ship carries up to 246 . viking itineraries range from eight to 23 days along europe s rhine main danube seine sa ne rh ne elbe and douro rivers ; russia s volga and svir ; ukraine s dnieper ; china s yangtze ; egypt s nile and lake nasser ; cambodia and vietnam s mekong and myanmar s irrawaddy . 12 some voyages including those in china southeast asia and egypt and a few in europe are cruisetours which include both hotel stays and river cruising . river cruise ship design innovations edit in 2009 viking launched viking legend the first of its ships to have hybrid diesel electric engines . according to the company these engines use an estimated 20 % less fuel than conventional engines . noise insulated engine rooms reduce noise and vibration and the ship has its own membrane water treatment plant to further reduce environmental impact . 13 viking s next new vessel viking prestige launched in 2011 with the same green features as viking legend . in 2012 viking introduced its viking longships class designed by scandinavian naval architects yran and storbraaten . each of these ships has the same environmentally friendly engine system plus a patented interior design configuration corridor configuration designs u.s. patent no. 1832106 0001 to 1832106 0011 that creates large two room suites full size rooms with full size verandas and french balcony staterooms . additional features include an indoor outdoor aquavit terrace for outdoor dining at the prow of the ship large explorer suites at the stern ; solar panels and an organic herb garden . the first six viking longships that launched in 2012 collectively won cruise critic s award for best new river ship ; 14 the company launched 10 more in 2013 15 and an additional 16 in 2014 plus 2 smaller vessels purpose built for portugal s douro river . 16 each viking longship is named for a figure in norse mythology or history . 17 fleet edit viking longship freya sails through the rhine valley . viking river cruises operates a fleet of 64 vessels as of 2015 . all of its ships have been custom built or fully renovated since 1999 ; 100 % of the cabins are outside staterooms with windows or balconies . the ships also have onboard restaurants bars lounges libraries and sun decks . the company christened 16 ships in a single day in 2014 breaking its own record that it held the previous year 10 and earning it a place in the guinness book of world records . 18 as of 2014 more than two thirds of the company s european fleet are classed as viking longships . 19 ships cruising in europe edit ship name year built refurbished class length crew guests staterooms comments website viking longship aegir 2012 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking aegir index.html viking longship alruna 2016 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking alruna index.html viking longship alsvin 2014 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking alsvin index.html viking longship atla 2013 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking atla index.html viking longship baldur 2013 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking baldur index.html viking longship bestla 2014 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines viking longship bragi 2013 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking bragi index.html viking longship buri 2014 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking buri index.html viking longship delling 2014 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking delling index.html viking longship egil 2016 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking egil index.html viking longship eir 2015 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking eir index.html viking longship eistla 2014 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines viking longship embla 2012 viking longship 439.6 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking embla index.html viking longship forseti 2013 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking forseti index.html viking longship freya 2012 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking freya index.html viking longship gefjon 2015 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking gefjon index.html viking longship gullveig 2014 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking gullveig index.html viking longship heimdal 2014 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking heimdal index.html viking longship hermod 2014 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines viking longship hlin 2014 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking hlin index.html viking longship idi 2014 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking idi index.html viking longship idun 2012 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking idun index.html viking longship ingvi 2014 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking ingvi index.html viking longship jarl 2013 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking jarl index.html viking longship kadlin 2016 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking kadlin index.html viking longship kara 2014 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking kara index.html viking longship kvasir 2014 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking kvasir index.html viking longship lif 2014 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking lif index.html viking longship lofn 2015 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking lofn index.html viking longship magni 2013 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking magni index.html viking longship mani 2015 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking mani index.html viking longship mimir 2015 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking mimir index.html viking longship modi 2015 viking longship 443 ft. 50 190 95 diesel electric hybrid engines http www.vikingrivercruises.com ships viking modi index.html viking longship njord 2012 viking longship 443 ft.