Viking welcomed seven new ships to its river fleet with a
naming ceremony in Basel on March 19.
Six of the new ships are Viking's signature Longships -- the
Viking Einar, Sigrun, Sigyn, Tir, Ullur and Vali -- which will sail the Rhine,
Main and Danube rivers. The seventh, the
Helmgring, will be its fourth on the Douro in Portugal.
The ceremony connected new ships in four cities by satellite
to the main event in Basel. All seven ships were officially named by their
godmothers -- all long-time employees of the company -- and christened with a
bottle Gammel Opland aquavit.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly gave the number of ships named by Viking River Cruises employees; all seven were named.