Viking Line today January 14th, 2013  took delivery of the  EUR240 million VIKING GRACE from the STX Finland Oy shipyard in Turku.

Viking Line are promoting the ship as one that ”represents a totally new generation”

The vessel is an environmental pioneer in the cruise industry. She is the world’s first large passenger vessel to be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The cleanest fossil fuel available today, LNG provides major environmental advantages. By using natural gas, hazardous emissions will decrease to a minimum say her owners.

Nitrogen emissions and particulates are reduced by 85 per cent and greenhouse gases by 15 per cent.

Crucially, sulphur emissions are practically zero.

The vessel has a hydrodynamically optimized hull shape and highly effective propulsion machinery that saves energy. Extensive development work has been devoted to the hull shape, which minimizes swell waves. Viking say that in day-to-day operations on board the vessel, recycling and resource optimization will be guiding principles.