Viking Ocean Cruises, a company 'subsidiary of Viking River Cruises, the world leader in the field of river cruises, and the Italian Shipbuilder Fincantieri, , have signed an agreement for the construction of two additional passenger ships and an option for aditional two ships The contract will be signed when all the technical and financial conditions will be specified. The new ships will be the twin of the two units 'already' ordained this year. In line with the strategy of Viking, focused on exclusivity 'of travel and location' reached during the cruise, these units '- with their 48,000 gross tons - will be  small by today's standards. The agreement, which strengthens the preferential relationship between Fincantieri and Viking, also includes a series of joint initiatives for the study of propulsion LNG (liquefied natural gas).

  "This new order - said Torstein Hagen, chairman of Viking - is a testament of how strong was the interest aroused by our conception of intuition as ocean cruise exclusive trip aboard small ships and high added value. We are very excited to have Fincantieri as a partner. "

"We are very pleased to enhance collaboration with Viking and this new agreement - said Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri - demonstrating our ability 'to compete in the market.

 Giuseppe Bono  added We also hope that the union and the workers feel confident about the future, giving maximum effort so that' our society 'can be more and more' competitive. Without this determination the excellent results achieved this year, namely the acquisition of substantially all of the new cruise ships ordered prototype in 2012, can hardly be maintained. "