Italian shipyard Fincantieri said Viking Ocean Cruises
has exercised options to build two more 930-passenger ships for delivery in
2022 and 2023.
They would be the ninth and tenth in a line of nearly
identical ships, the first of which was delivered in 2015.
Even before the first Viking Ocean ship entered service, Viking chairman Torstein Hagen had raised the possibility of building 10 ocean
ships and has repeated the suggestion several times since.
Viking has so far taken delivery of four of the ships, named
Viking Star, Sea, Sky and Sun.
Fincantieri said the contracts on ships seven and eight,
agreed to last fall, have become effective as of Dec. 16.
The undelivered Viking ocean ships are due in 2018, 2019,
2021, 2022 (2) and 2023.