Viking Jupiter, the 47,800gt cruise ship built at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Ancona, Italy for Viking Cruises, has been delivered with a Thordon Bearings’ seawater-lubricated propeller shaft system. It is the sixth Viking cruise ship to be fitted out with the COMPAC bearing arrangement.
Two 930 passenger-capacity sisterships, Viking Tellus and Viking Venus, currently undergoing construction at Fincantieri and slated for delivery in 2021, have also been specified with the pollution-free Thordon system. Further newbuilds of the same class have also been ordered for delivery between 2022 and 2027, though supply contracts have yet to be finalised.
Richard Goodwin, Vice President, Engineering, Viking River Cruises, said: “From the outset, when we first entered the cruise market four years ago with Viking Star, we opted for water lubricated propulsion as a cost-effective means of reducing the impact of our operations on the marine environment. The COMPAC system has proven itself both commercially and operationally and we look forward to working with Thordon on future projects.”
Thordon Bearings’ President and CEO, Terry McGowan, added: “We congratulate Viking Cruises and Fincantieri on the successful and timely delivery of the sixth vessel in this class, a series of ships that have proven immensely popular with passengers and crew. We are delighted that both owner and builder continue to support the use of COMPAC water lubricated propulsion.”
Viking’s fleet of modern passenger ships are each equipped with energy-efficient hybrid engines to minimise airborne pollution, while the COMPAC propeller shaft bearing system is lubricated by seawater and does not require an aft seal, reducing in-service maintenance costs. The vessels’ hull has also been optimised for fuel efficiency.
According to Alfredo Tosato, Managing Director at Pedrotec, Thordon Bearings authorised distributor in Italy, Fincantieri frequently specifies COMPAC for its newbuilding projects.
“When Viking started working with Fincantieri on these vesels, the shipbuilder recommended the Thordon solution at the design stage due to the excellent performance of the installations on the Disney Magic and Princess Cruise Lines’ Grand Princess. For every new project where a conventional propulsion arrangement is selected, we work with both builder and owner to design and engineer the optimum bearing solution.”
Pedrotec is currently negotiating the engineering and supply for the continuation of four Viking newbuilds.
The first of the series, Viking Star was delivered in 2015, followed in subsequent years by Viking Sea, Viking Sky, Viking Sun, and Viking Orion.
The delivery of Viking Jupiter places Viking in pole position as the world’s largest small ship ocean cruise line, only four years after launching its ocean business.