Gibraltar’s Minister for Business, Tourism, Transport and the Port, Vijay Daryanani, has held a meeting with Viking’s Vice President of Maritime Operations Matt Grimes and Chairman Torstein Hagen.

According to the ministry’s press release, the meeting took place onboard the Viking Venus, Viking’s newest ocean ship, during a technical call in Gibraltar.

Grimes and Hagen flew into Gibraltar to join the ship and meet with Daryanani, who was also given a tour of the ship. Daryanani visited the full-scale PCR laboratory onboard the ship, providing a comprehensive testing facility for COVID 19.

“I’m delighted to be in Gibraltar to meet Minister Daryanani and to join our newest ship, Viking Venus. I’ve been speaking virtually with Minister Daryanani now for several weeks, discussing possibilities for Gibraltar and it is a pleasure to be here and to meet him in person,” Grimes said.

“It’s great to have one of my first face-to-face meetings this year with executives from the cruise industry and in particular with Matt, as I have been in contact with him on video calls for the last few weeks. It was also an honor to meet the Chairman of Viking, Torstein Hagen. I talked to Mr. Grimes and Mr. Hagen about Viking’s role in the resumption of cruise services and I have explained the protocols we have in place. I have also highlighted the success of our vaccination program, thanks to the UK Government and the management of the pandemic here. I’m heavily committed to the cruise industry and this meeting is just one facet of the hard work I am carrying out to ensure the successful return of this important element of our tourism sector,” Daryanani said.