MS Viking XPRS
Encyclopedia
MS
Viking XPRS is a fast cruiseferry
owned by the Finland
-based Viking Line
and operated on their service between Helsinki
, Finland and Tallinn
, Estonia
. Her keel was laid on 16 April 2007 and launching took place on 19 September 2007. Viking XPRS entered service on 28 April 2008.
In April 2009 the Viking XPRS won the award for Outstanding Ferry Exterior in ShipPax Awards 2009, held as a part of the Shipping 2009 conference in France.
The ship was originally planned to be registered in Finland, with Mariehamn
painted on the hull as the homeport when the ship was floated out of drydock. Due to difficulties in negotiations with the Finnish Seamen's Union and the generally higher personnel expenses under Finnish flag, the company decided to move the ship under Swedish flag in January 2008. In March 2008 Norrtälje
in Sweden was revealed as the port of registry.
-manufactured propellers. Due to the propeller fault the ship sailed for dry docking at Aker Finnyards' Rauma
shipyard on 8 April 2008 where the propeller was changed. The ship was eventually delivered to Viking Line on 21 April 2008.
During the northern hemisphere
spring of 2009, parts of the ship's rear outer decks areas were rebuilt into an indoor dance bar. All conversion work was carried out while the ship remained in normal service. Originally the Red Rose bar in the front of the ship was projected to be a dance restaurant, but in practice it was filled with diners eating food purchased from the ship's cafeteria. With the addition of the dance bar Viking Line hoped to attract more cruise passengers that sailed with the ships of competing Tallink
and Eckerö Line
. The reconstruction was completed by 1 May 2009.
.
In February 2009 the Viking XPRS was voted as one of the top 5 medium-sized cruise ships in the world by readers of the prestigious Condé Nast Traveler
guide, rating higher than the ships of Holland America Line
amongst others. Viking XPRS gained top spot in the "shore excursions" category, despite the fact the ship offers no organised excursions. In addition to the fact that the Viking XPRS is not an actual cruise ship, this led to the proposition that the ship's high placement in the ranking was in fact the result of a hoax of some kind.
Ship prefix
A ship prefix is a combination of letters, usually abbreviations, used in front of the name of a civilian or naval ship.Prefixes for civilian vessels may either identify the type of propulsion, such as "SS" for steamship, or purpose, such as "RV" for research vessel. Civilian prefixes are often...
Viking XPRS is a fast cruiseferry
Cruiseferry
A cruiseferry is a ship that combines the features of a cruise ship with a Ro-Pax ferry. Many passengers travel with the ships for the cruise experience, staying only a few hours at the destination port or not leaving the ship at all, while others use the ships as means of...
owned by the Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
-based Viking Line
Viking Line
Viking Line is a Finnish shipping company that operates a fleet of ferries and cruiseferries between Finland, the Åland Islands, Sweden and Estonia. Viking Line shares are quoted on the Helsinki Stock Exchange...
and operated on their service between Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
, Finland and Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
, Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
. Her keel was laid on 16 April 2007 and launching took place on 19 September 2007. Viking XPRS entered service on 28 April 2008.
Concept
Viking XPRS is Viking Line's first new building for the Helsinki–Tallinn route. She is the first newbuilding delivered to the company since MS Kalypso in 1990 and also Viking Line's first fast cruiseferry, with a building contract worth approximately 120–130 million euros. The Viking XPRS makes the crossing between the two capitals in about two and a half hours, with two daily departures from each port. The ship is designed with separate cardecks for freight and for passengers cars, and with a limited passenger cabin capacity as she only does daytime crossings. The interiors of the Viking XPRS were designed by Tillberg Design, like those of several of the company's earlier newbuildings.In April 2009 the Viking XPRS won the award for Outstanding Ferry Exterior in ShipPax Awards 2009, held as a part of the Shipping 2009 conference in France.
Planned sister ships
The order of the Viking XPRS included an option for two sister vessels. On 2 October 2006, Viking Line announced that this option wouldn't be exercised.Name and homeport
The name Viking XPRS was originally only a concept name for the new ship. A naming competition was held on Viking Line websites in May and June 2007, which resulted in over 16.000 name proposals. The concept name Viking XPRS was suggested by many entrants to the competition, and in the end it was chosen as the ship's final name due to it already being well known by the public. The naming ceremony took place on 14 September 2007.Mariehamn
Mariehamn is the capital of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government and Parliament of Åland, and 40% of the population of Åland live in the city...
painted on the hull as the homeport when the ship was floated out of drydock. Due to difficulties in negotiations with the Finnish Seamen's Union and the generally higher personnel expenses under Finnish flag, the company decided to move the ship under Swedish flag in January 2008. In March 2008 Norrtälje
Norrtälje
Norrtälje is a locality and the seat of Norrtälje Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 17,275 inhabitants in 2010.- History :Norrtälje traces its history to 1219, when the location was first mentioned as Tälje. After some time, the name officially became Norrtälje, to separate it from the...
in Sweden was revealed as the port of registry.
Construction
Viking XPRS was built at Aker Finnyards' Helsinki New Shipyard. The original delivery date of the ship was set for January 2008, but due to numerous delays the delivery of the ship was pushed back until 28 April 2008. Reasons for the delays include slower-than-planned furnishing works and faults in one of the Rolls-RoyceRolls-Royce plc
Rolls-Royce Group plc is a global power systems company headquartered in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s second-largest maker of aircraft engines , and also has major businesses in the marine propulsion and energy sectors. Through its defence-related activities...
-manufactured propellers. Due to the propeller fault the ship sailed for dry docking at Aker Finnyards' Rauma
Rauma, Finland
Rauma is a town and municipality of ca. inhabitants on the west coast of Finland, north of Turku, and south of Pori. Granted town privileges on May 17, 1442 , Rauma is known of its high quality lace , and of the old wooden architecture of its centre , which is a Unesco world heritage...
shipyard on 8 April 2008 where the propeller was changed. The ship was eventually delivered to Viking Line on 21 April 2008.
During the northern hemisphere
Northern Hemisphere
The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of its equator—the word hemisphere literally means “half sphere”. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator...
spring of 2009, parts of the ship's rear outer decks areas were rebuilt into an indoor dance bar. All conversion work was carried out while the ship remained in normal service. Originally the Red Rose bar in the front of the ship was projected to be a dance restaurant, but in practice it was filled with diners eating food purchased from the ship's cafeteria. With the addition of the dance bar Viking Line hoped to attract more cruise passengers that sailed with the ships of competing Tallink
Tallink
Tallink is an Estonian shipping company currently operating Baltic Sea cruiseferries and ropax ships from Estonia to Finland, Estonia to Sweden, Latvia to Sweden and Finland to Germany. They also own Silja Line and a part of SeaRail...
and Eckerö Line
Eckerö Line
Eckerö Line is a Finnish shipping companies owned by the Åland-based Rederiaktiebolaget Eckerö. Eckerö Line operates two ferries between Helsinki and Tallinn...
. The reconstruction was completed by 1 May 2009.
Service history
Viking XPRS made her maiden voyage between Helsinki and Tallinn on 27 April 2008 and entered regular service on the route the following day. Compared to that had sailed on the route the previous year the Viking XPRS attracted a notably larger number of passengers, with a 61% raise in passenger number and 74% raise in vehicles transported between Helsinki and Tallinn between June and August 2008 compared to the same months in 2007. During her first year in service the ship transported approximately 1,466,000 passengers, more than any other ship that has trafficked in the northern Baltic SeaBaltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
.
In February 2009 the Viking XPRS was voted as one of the top 5 medium-sized cruise ships in the world by readers of the prestigious Condé Nast Traveler
Condé Nast Traveler
Condé Nast Traveler is a US magazine published by Condé Nast. It has its origins in a mailing sent out by the Diners Club club beginning in 1953, listing locations that would take the card. It began taking advertising in 1955. In order to attract more advertisers, it became a full-fledged magazine,...
guide, rating higher than the ships of Holland America Line
Holland America Line
The Holland America Line is a cruise shipping company. It was founded in 1873 as the Netherlands-America Steamship Company , a shipping and passenger line. Headquartered in Rotterdam and providing service to the Americas, it became known as Holland America Line...
amongst others. Viking XPRS gained top spot in the "shore excursions" category, despite the fact the ship offers no organised excursions. In addition to the fact that the Viking XPRS is not an actual cruise ship, this led to the proposition that the ship's high placement in the ranking was in fact the result of a hoax of some kind.
Decks
The precise layout of decks 1 and 2 is unknown as the deck plans provided by Viking Line only include decks accessible to passengers.- Engine room
- Crew accommodations
- Cargo deck
- Cargo deck
- Car deck
- CabinsCabin (ship)A cabin or berthing is an enclosed space generally on a ship or an aircraft. A cabin which protrudes above the level of a ship's deck may be referred to as a "deckhouse."-Sailing ships:...
(B-Cabins, A-Cabins, LYX-Cabins) - Conference center, Business lounge, Shopping World, Viking's Inn pub, Sundeck and Grill, Dance pavilion (added April 2009)
- Blue Deli restaurant, Xpresso Café/Corner, Bistro Bella Buffet and Red Rose Bar Café
- BridgeBridge (ship)The bridge of a ship is the room or platform from which the ship can be commanded. When a ship is underway the bridge is manned by an OOW aided usually by an AB acting as lookout...
, crew accommodations - Sundeck