After spending most of the winter season in the southern hemisphere sailing the Antarctic, the first expedition ship of Viking Cruises - Octantis, sailed up the Saint Lawrence River on Thursday, April 28.
Earlier (on April 18th), Viking Octantis called at Port NYC (New York USA) to be officially christened by her ceremonial godmother, Liv Arnesen, renowned Norwegian educator and explorer. In 1994, Arnesen became the first woman in the world to ski solo/unsupported to the South Pole. Liv was aboard the ship’s first 2 expeditions to Antarctica.
Viking took delivery of Octantis on December 22, 2021, at Fincantieri’s Vard shipyard in Soviknes (Norway) Viking Octantis is making her way up St Lawrence Seaway for the Great Lakes and a series of voyages during spring and summer.
Sistership Viking Polaris will join the fleet later this year. Both vessels were made with cruising the Great Lakes-Seaway system in mind.
Viking Octantis is named after a constellation of the southern sky. She has 5 decks and is 665 ft (203 m) long with a beam/width of 77 ft (24 m).
The vessel can accommodate 378 passengers and 256 crew.