Viking River plans Mississippi newbuild & more

[HostDave]

Viking River Cruises plans to build a vessel to operate on the Mississippi River in what will be its first foray into the US waterways and has acquired another Russian riverboat, chairman Torstein Hagen told Seatrade Insider in a one-to-one interview.

The Mississippi vessel will be 'Viking-style'—that is, similar to the contemporary Longships Viking is putting into European rivers at a fast clip. There’s no paddlewheel.

The Mississippi is 'a nice place to be,' Hagen said. 'We can show the Americans what a river ship should really look like.'

The vessel will be built in a US yard and will enter service in 2015.

Hagen said it will be able to visit Minneapolis, but not Chicago due to an air draft limitation from a bridge.

Viking River is considering a number of US yards as builders but Hagen would not elaborate if any are experienced with passenger vessels.

In other news, the company has just acquired another Russian riverboat that will begin operations for Viking in 2014.

It is the sister of a vessel that already operates in the fleet and refurbishments will begin immediately, Hagen said.