Finnish firm welcomes Xiamen-built cruise ship

HELSINKI — Viking Line, a well-known Finnish shipping company, welcomed the recent launch of a new cruise ship built in China.

Jan Hanses, CEO of the company, spoke highly of their business with the Chinese shipbuilding company when interviewed by Finnish national radio Yle.

Built by Chinese company, Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry, the new Finnish Baltic cruise ship Viking Glory was launched on Jan 26 in Xiamen, East China’s Fujian province. Viking Line arranged a livestreamed ceremony to cover the event.

Talking to Yle, Hanses says that the decision to purchase a ship from the Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry was a good one. The company was chosen for its rich experience in shipbuilding and its competitive pricing.

“Viking Line could not find a satisfactory solution in Finland,” says Hanses, adding that an order from Finland would have cost nearly 100 million euros ($121 million) extra.

The Viking Glory is built for the shipping route between Turku, southwestern Finland, and Stockholm, the Swedish capital, with a call at Mariehamn in the Aland islands.

The ship is powered by liquified natural gas, or LNG, and equipped by the world’s most advanced central control and alarm monitoring system. Measuring 218 meters in length, the ship is longer than Viking Line’s first LNG ship Viking Grace, which was built in 2013, but uses 10 percent less fuel.

The transfer of the ship from China to Finland will take around a month and a half, according to the Finnish shipping company.