The cruise ship Viking Sun is officially the first vessel of the joint venture between China Merchants Shekou and Viking Cruises. The ship will sail under the Chinese flag with its new name “Zhao Shang Yi Dun”. China Merchants Shekou and Viking Cruises agreed on the joint venture in April 2019 and formally concluded it at the end of November 2020. As part of the joint venture, further luxury cruise ships with ocean and coastal cruises will follow.

Viking Sun will be homeported at Shekou Cruise Center near Shenzhen in southern China. The vessel was berthed in port since mid-March and initially went through a three-week quarantine phase for the crew before new crew members from China boarded. The luxury cruise ship sails under the Chinese flag and is registered in Qianhai, Shenzhen. This means that, in accordance with Chinese cabotage laws, it can also sail Chinese national voyages. Port stops in Hong Kong, Southeast Asia and other regions are to be added as soon as international cruises are permitted due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Torstein Hagen, founder and chairman of Viking Cruises, said that the China Coastal Cruise Project will bring a new cruise travel experience to the Chinese market. He pointed out that the Viking cruise ships will aim to create the most comfortable travel experience with full Chinese service provided by well-trained Chinese crew.

Viking Sun was built at Fincantieri shipyard in Ancona and entered service in 2017. She can accommodate 930 passengers and has 480 crew. The new company is named: China Merchants Viking Cruises Co., Ltd. (“China Merchants Viking Cruises”) The ship will be owned by the new company, and the deal is said to be worth 400 million US dollars.