The Neptun shipyard in Rostock-Warnemünde has a new major order. Eight more river cruise ships are to be built for Viking River Cruises.
The newbuilds are part of the so-called “Long Ship” series. Neptun is currently already building ten newbuilds for Viking. The company, which has been part of the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg since 1997, will be working on the follow-up order until 2028.
“With this order, we are once again continuing our extraordinarily successful partnership with Viking. For Neptun Werft, the eight new ships mean employment in our core business of river cruise ships,” says Stephan Schmees, CEO of Neptun Werft.
Neptun order book for Viking grows to 18 ships
The ships now ordered, each 135 metres long, are scheduled for delivery in 2027 and 2028. The ten river cruise ships already under construction, which began at the end of 2023, will be completed in 2025 and 2026.
The newbuilds will be equipped with a hybrid system consisting of a diesel-electric drive and a battery system. According to the shipbuilders, this is intended to absorb peak loads and save a considerable amount of fuel. The river cruisers will also receive a number of technical innovations, such as a compact system for waste water treatment.
Celebrity Cruises misses time window with Neptune
It was only recently that the entry of former Meyer Werft regular customer Celebrity Cruises into the river cruise business made headlines in the cruise industry. The US shipping company, which last received the “Solstice” series of ocean-going ships from the Papenburg shipbuilders between 2008 and 2012, which are still successful today, is planning to enter the river cruise sector on European rivers from 2027 with ten river cruise ships already ordered under the new Celebrity River Cruises brand with special designer ships.
The shipping company, which is part of the Royal Caribbean Group, did not initially provide details of the shipyard. According to HANSA information, the only reason Celebrity Cruises did not award the contract to Neptun was because the desired construction slots had already been taken by the Viking contract. According to reports, the Celebrity ships will now be built at the Dutch shipyard Teamco Shipyard. (CA)
