By
Alex Smith |
Viking Lines’ new ferry, Viking Glory, will complete her five-week journey to the Port of Turku when she arrives for her first visit on Sunday 6 February at 12:00 EET.
The ship will be welcomed by a celebration featuring a salute by the Arma Aboa Association’s artillery of cannons, daytime fireworks and the navy band’s ceremonial marches under the direction of Viking Line’s mascot, Ville Viking. The celebration will also be streamed live online for the general public.
“Turku is Finland’s oldest port city and has always had a close connection with lands to the west,” said Minna Arve, the mayor of Turku. “It is very significant that Viking Line has decided to situate its most advanced and interesting vessel here. Viking Glory is the newest jewel in the crown of the fleet of vessels that cross the Baltic Sea, and I would like to wish the vessel a warm welcome to our city.”
The new flagship replaces Amorelia, who will now move to Helsinki. Viking Glory will increase Viking Line’s passenger capacity on the Turku-Mariehamn-Stockholm route by about 10 per cent.
“We are really excited about Viking Glory’s arrival,” said Erik Söderholm, managing director of the Port of Turku. “In our experience, a new vessel makes the entire route more attractive and increases passenger volumes. Before the Covid pandemic, we had more than three million passengers annually and now, post-pandemic, we see that there is great pent-up demand for travel.”
After the welcome ceremony, the vessel will be outfitted in port over a period of three weeks. The new vessel will launch service on the route on 1 March.
“We are extremely proud that we once again can take a vessel that represents the very latest in new advances to Turku – one that both improves the level of service on the route and reduces the environmental impact,” said Jan Hanses, Viking Line’s president and CEO. “There is great interest in Glory, and sales have gotten off to a really good start.”