Viking Jupiter accidents and incidents

15 January 2020Other Incidents

MS Viking Jupiter was officially delivered to Viking Ocean on February 7, 2019, as fleet's 6th vessel. The official christening ceremony was initially scheduled for June 6 (2019) to be held in Oslo Norway. However, the official naming ceremony was held on January 15, 2020, in Beverly Hills CA.

This was quite an unusual ceremony as the vessel has been in service for ~1 year. Also, while official ship namings are usually held on the boat or pier-side (where it is berthed), Viking Jupiter's christening was far away from water - at Beverly Hills Ballroom (West Hollywood Civic Center) while the boat itself was cruising in the South Atlantic Ocean, being en-route from Argentina to the Falkland Islands.

The land-based event was synchronized with the ship (via real-time satellite link / live streaming). The Godmother (Sissel Kyrkjebo) used a Viking axe to cut a cord, then the ship's Captain confirmed that the bottle of Linie Aquavit Original (Norway-distilled spirit) had smashed against the hull.

17-day Buenos Aires to Valparaiso, prices started from ~USD 7800 pp (double-occupancy cabin rates).

02 July 2019Propulsion / Power Loss

On July 2, 2019, while maneuvering for berthing in Port Tilbury-London (England) the ship temporary lost power (and propulsion) and became adrift inspite of being anchored ("dragging anchor"). The mooring was later completed with the assistance of 2 port tugboats.

According to the ship's Captain (his PA announcement), the incident was caused by a power generator failure (AC-DC voltage inverter).

14 February 2019Ship Collision / Allision

On February 14, 2019, while maneuvering for docking in Port Piraeus (Athens, Greece), the cruise liner collided with the pier. The ship was carrying a total of 1090 people (607 passengers plus 483 crew). The mooring was assisted by 3 port tugboats.

The crash was due to strong winds and resulted in minor starboard hull damages (including a 10-cm long crack) and pier damages (15 m / 50 ft long section of the dock sustained minor concrete damages, plus 3 fenders became detached from the construction). No injuries, sea pollution or water ingress were reported. The ship remained in port overnight for damage assessment and clearance.

Note: Actually, this type of marine accident is called “allision” (striking a fixed object) as opposed to “collision” (striking another vessel).