Ten construction starts at NEPTUN WERFT
Rostock-Warnemünde - Viking and NEPTUN WERFT laid down a total of ten new river cruise ships. This continues the successful series of 65 ships for Viking to date. The shipping company has now commissioned NEPTUN WERFT to build nine more innovative river cruise ships. The river cruise ships include one ship for the Seine and eight ships from the well-known Longship series. Another Seine ship was already commissioned in February 2023. NEPTUN WERFT will build a total of ten river cruise ships for Viking by 2026.
While the longships are 135 meters long, the ships for the Seine are based on the “shortened” longships Viking Kari, Viking Radgrid, Viking Skaga and Viking Fjorgyn that were already built for Viking. In 2025 and 2026, one ship for the Seine and four ships from the Longship series are to be delivered. The construction of the ships began symbolically with the laying of the keel at NEPTUN WERFT.
The new ships will be equipped with a hybrid system consisting of diesel-electric propulsion and a battery system. This means load peaks are absorbed and fuel is saved significantly. The longships are being constructed for the first time at NEPTUN WERFT with a new PLM system, a combined software solution from Catia V6 and Cadmatic. You will also receive some technical innovations, such as a compact system for wastewater treatment.
“We are pleased to continue the long series of Viking ships with these ten ships. With their hybrid system, the ships are among the most environmentally friendly on Europe's rivers. The successful operation on the ships that have already been delivered was a decisive reason for Viking to rely on the MEYER Group again for construction,” says Jan Meyer, who will lead NEPTUN WERFT as Chief Business Innovation Officer in the future.
NEPTUN WERFT now has a well-filled order book until 2026 with orders for ten river cruise ships, two marine fuel suppliers and parts of the research vessel METEOR IV. In addition, the MEYER Group is planning to start building offshore converter platforms together with the Belgian company Smulders in Rostock. For this purpose, the NEPTUN SMULDERS Engineering joint venture is currently being set up. These platforms will also be built at NEPTUN WERFT in the future.