Viking named its newest ocean ship, the Viking Vesta, with a traditional ceremony in Split, Croatia over the weekend. The ship was recently delivered from Fincantieri to Viking.
Serving as ceremonial godmother of the Viking Vesta was the Norwegian journalist, Lene Tangevald-Jensen, according to a press release.
The Viking Vesta will now continue her inaugural season sailing in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe.
“As we celebrate 10 years of ocean voyages in 2025, we are pleased to welcome the new Viking Vesta to our award-winning fleet of elegant sister ships,” said Torstein Hagen, Chairman and CEO of Viking.
“We are also very grateful to Lene for serving as godmother. In addition to her personal and professional accomplishments, Lene embodies the values that are very important to me and to Viking—she is kind, honest, hardworking and, of course, curious. I am proud to count her as a friend and a valued member of the extended Viking family.”
In keeping with the naming tradition, during the ceremony Lene used a Viking broad axe to cut a ribbon that allowed a bottle of Norwegian aquavit to break on the ship’s hull.
Guests also enjoyed performances by Sissel Kyrkjebø, one of the world’s leading crossover sopranos and godmother of the Viking Jupiter, and Norwegian violinist Tor Jaran Apold.
