Viking Cruises held a naming ceremony on Monday for its new ocean ship, Viking Vesta, in Split, Croatia.
The ship, which will resume its inaugural season sailing in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe, has 499 staterooms and can host 998 guests. It is classified as a small ship, as are all of Viking’s ocean ships, and has a gross tonnage of 54,300 tons.
More About the Ceremony
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- Norwegian journalist Lene Tangevald-Jensen served as the ceremonial godmother of Viking Vesta.
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- In keeping with Viking tradition, she used a Viking broadaxe to cut a ribbon that allowed a bottle of aquavit, a Scandinavian spirit, to break on the ship’s hull.
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- The ceremony also featured performances by famous crossover soprano and godmother of Viking Jupiter Sissel Kyrkjebø and Norwegian violinist Tor Jaran Apold.
About Lene Tangevald-Jensen
Tangevald-Jensen is known for her journalistic and philanthropic work. She earned a master’s degree in business and worked in the private sector, investing in stocks and real estate. She has spent decades writing for Norwegian financial publications Kapital and Finansavisen, in addition to writing for OSLO, a street magazine that aims to amplify the voices of those living in poverty.
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“As we celebrate 10 years of ocean voyages in 2025, we are pleased to welcome the new Viking Vesta to our award-winning fleet of elegant sister ships,” said Torstein Hagen, Viking Chairman and CEO. “We are also very grateful to Lene for serving as godmother. In addition to her personal and professional accomplishments, Lene embodies the values that are very important to me and to Viking—she is kind, honest, hardworking and, of course, curious. I am proud to count her as a friend and a valued member of the extended Viking family.”
Tangevald-Jensen’s philanthropy efforts include working with the LEON Trust to support education for children in Kenya, Sri Lanka and Nepal, partnering with Make-A-Wish Foundation Norway and founding TBS Gallery, an art space in Oslo dedicated to the work of sculptor Tore Bjørn Skjølsvik. Tangevald-Jensen is a close friend and neighbor of CEO Torstein Hagen, and she and her partner joined an expedition to Antarctica aboard Viking Polaris to film a documentary about the continent.
Will you be sailing aboard Viking Vesta? Let us know in the comments!
By Caroline Killilea
