VIKING MISSISSIPPI MAKES ITS DEBUT

This past fall, Viking River Cruises’ much-anticipated Jones Act compliant river cruise ship Viking Mississippi made its inaugural cruise and attracting much local media attention along the way.

Floated out from Edison Chouest Offshore’s LaShip shipyard in Houma, La., last March, the 450 foot long, 75-foot beam vessel hosts 386 guests in 193 all outside staterooms and offers multiple passenger amenities. The five-deck river cruise ship is inspired by Viking’s award-winning river and ocean ships and features a Scandinavian design, as well as public spaces that will be familiar to Viking guests but reimagined for Mississippi River voyages.

The Viking Mississippi is equipped with a variety of measures to maximize energy efficiency and emissions—including a diesel-electric propulsion system comprised of eight CAT C32 EPA Tier 4 diesel engines, each powering a 940 eKw water cooled generator; each engine/generator unit is individually mounted on a specially designed double raft isolation system that produces a remarkably quiet and smooth ride.

Propulsion power is provided by Voith 6-bladed propulsion thrusters driven by permanent magnet electric motors as are the pump jet bow thrusters.

Viking is hoping that the vessel will tempt guests from its international customer base, accustomed to its European Longship river cruises, to see how the Mississippi River stacks up against rivers such as the Rhine.