Viking ocean ships - next generation 2.0 updates?

[voyager23]

Has anyone heard anymore information about the next generation of enlarged ocean ships? According to the Cruise Critic article last year with a presentation by Torstein:

 

"Chairman and Founder Torstein Hagen said the line's unnamed ocean ships (internally called Ship 11 and Ship 12) will run on hydrogen and that to accommodate the fuel, these new ships will be a bit longer and carry more guests than their fleetmates. The ships will be 11 meters longer, and while he didn't say how many more guests could sail, he did say the ships would have no more than 25 additional cabins, and the passenger count would still be less than 1,000. "

 

So that puts the next generation ships around 238 m(780 ft) and 490 cabins. So will it be the Viking Saturn (2023), then the larger 11 & 12? 

 

1. Viking Star
2. Viking Sea
3. Viking Sky
4. Viking Sun (former)
5. Viking Orion
6. Viking Jupiter
7. Viking Venus
8. Viking Mars
9. Viking Neptune
10. Viking Saturn (2023)
11. unnamed (2024)  *First enlarged?*
12. unnamed (2025)

 

 

 

Edited March 16, 2023 by voyager23

[philw1776]

What will be their source(s) of hydrogen?

Nukes electricity?
Iceland's geothermal electricity?
Solar electricity?
Needs to be available worldwide at many ports for the fleet to sail.

A major problem with rockets using hydrogen (best rocket fuel) and why it's not used that much any more is hydrogen embrittlement. It tends to destroy its metal containers over time.

[Jim Avery]

25 more cabins with the same public spaces and launderettes.  What could go wrong?

[voyager23]

4 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

25 more cabins with the same public spaces and launderettes.  What could go wrong?

 

I believe they will be "stretching" the current design by about 36 feet, so about the width of 4 cabin modules. Similar to what they did on the Edge Class with the third ship Celebrity Beyond(although that was 2x 33 foot sections), gained cabins and some new public venues. So could possibly see an enlarged main pool deck and an enlarged Torshavn, or new venue. 

[Jim Avery]

Have you seen anything published by Viking? Otherwise it’s all speculation. The stretching might be more economical aft. I suppose it depends on the needs of the Hydrogen.

[zalusky]

I expect these ships will be exclusively for the protected Norway Unesco areas given the forthcoming restrictions.

[chengkp75]

2 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

Have you seen anything published by Viking? Otherwise it’s all speculation. The stretching might be more economical aft. I suppose it depends on the needs of the Hydrogen.

It's funny.  Hydrogen requires three times the volume as natural gas for the same energy, and even LNG requires more volume than conventional fuels.  Due to it's low energy density, DNV in a recent study feels that pure hydrogen fuel will have virtually no role in the long haul maritime fuel market by 2050, being solely relegated to short sea (coastal) routes, if that.

 

https://www.rechargenews.com/energy-transition/dnv-rules-out-pure-hydrogen-as-a-future-long-distance-shipping-fuel/2-1-1292932#:~:text=Pure hydrogen will not be,to maritime standards firm DNV.

 

The last paragraph says it all:

 

"And although DNV estimates that vessels powered by pure hydrogen and ammonia could be on the water within eight years — and currently there are three H₂ vessels on order — “the lack of design guidance is complicating the building process for everyone involved”."

[Jim Avery]

Interesting take on this subject from DNV.

 

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwi29NnW9OP9AhXLO0QIHfZIDWYQFnoECCgQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dnv.com%2Fexpert-story%2Fmaritime-impact%2FFive-lessons-to-learn-on-hydrogen-as-ship-fuel.html&usg=AOvVaw2xM7iuSAkgzo1eJC_1BSho

[photopro2]

As it happens, I was on the Viking Octantis when Tor made that statement about future ships, though sadly not a part of the media group to whom he was speaking.

 

While the announcement confirms that the new ships "will" run on hydrogen, it does not say that it will be the sole fuel used or even that the ships will be capable of operating on hydrogen from launch.

 

Given the excellent information in the articles that Chengkp75 and Jim found for us, it seems very unlikely that all the engineering solutions will be in place by the time 11 and 12 go into service. I strongly suspect that these hulls have been designed to allow installation of hydrogen power at some point further down the line.

 

18 hours ago, zalusky said:

I expect these ships will be exclusively for the protected Norway Unesco areas given the forthcoming restrictions.

You may well be right, although I don't think they will be used exclusively in those areas. Even when hydrogen power is introduced it is almost certain that the ships will use conventional fuels for much of the time with hydrogen reserved for sensitive areas and, perhaps, transition in and out of port.

 

As a Norwegian flag carrier this move by Viking can be seen within the context of the Norwegian government's interest in the low emission production and use of hydrogen. 

https://www.regjeringen.no/contentassets/8ffd54808d7e42e8bce81340b13b6b7d/hydrogenstrategien-engelsk.pdf 

It is even possible that Viking may have accessed some governmental funds to help the move towards hydrogen propulsion for their ships. 

 

However it has come about, I think it is to Viking's great credit that they are taking an active part in exploring novel power systems. While it will certainly take some time to put solutions in place , there is a clear need to work on reducing the environmental impact of the cruises that we enjoy so much. It is nice to know that even a small part of my "cruise dollar" is being invested in a cleaner future.

 

A big thank you to voyager23 for pointing us in the direction of that cruise critic article, which had somehow passed me by.

[OneSixtyToOne]

2 hours ago, photopro2 said:

As a Norwegian flag carrier this move by Viking can be seen within the context of the Norwegian government's interest in the low emission production and use of hydrogen. 

https://www.regjeringen.no/contentassets/8ffd54808d7e42e8bce81340b13b6b7d/hydrogenstrategien-engelsk.pdf 

It is even possible that Viking may have accessed some governmental funds to help the move towards hydrogen propulsion for their ships. 

 

It's also possible they will receive carbon offset credits like Tesla does.

[voyager23]

Aside from a new "midsection" somewhere in the layout, I wonder if Viking will be changing any venues to the new ships. The Aula on the Viking Octantis is amazing, and quite a contrast to the somewhat 1990s cruise ship design layout of the ocean fleets theaters. Although the window views aren't possible, adopting a similar tiered seating, better sightlines, and overall design aesthetic would be an improvement.

[Clay Clayton]

Just saw this article:

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/10/viking-on-course-to-hydrogen-fuel-cells/?fbclid=IwAR3Cdju9rWEVNRCHgOTOuzfm8X-YxrTvjmQWzj-kSNc1X7qRQbIoRvrGv3g

[chengkp75]

3 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Just saw this article:

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/10/viking-on-course-to-hydrogen-fuel-cells/?fbclid=IwAR3Cdju9rWEVNRCHgOTOuzfm8X-YxrTvjmQWzj-kSNc1X7qRQbIoRvrGv3g

I still don't see any answers to the storage issues that class societies are, to the best of my knowledge, still grappling with.  I don't follow Mr. Hagen's comments about a "short dry dock" to convert to hydrogen, unless they are installing the cryogenic tanks from new build, but the first ship to have the fuel cells will still need 3 diesel engines (since the fuel cell will only be 6Mw), and therefore they will need conventional tankage for distillate fuel as well.

[MSEm]

Thank for the post. Interesting to read there will be more Viking Ocean Ships.