The main nautical season this year in the Port of Kotor started earlier than ever because the first big cruise ship already arrived this year - the brand new “Viking Jupiter” with 640 passengers.
The cruise ship which is on its first, so-called shakedown or trial cruise, only four days ago was handed over to its owner, the Norwegian-American company "Viking Ocean Cruises", at the Italian shipyard Fincantieri in Ancona where it was built.
This company has been operating since 2015 when it started working with its first cruiser "Viking Star", and it is customary to bring all its new ships on the first voyage to Kotor, as was the case with “Viking Jupiter”, the latest 340 million-euro ship from the cruise series led by "Viking Star".
The new ship whose equipment and furniture just peeled off the protective nylon layer, and the interior which still smells of fresh paint, sailed to Kotor by captain Atle Hakon Knutsen.
It is his fifth arrival with newly built ships by the company “Viking Ocean Cruises” to the busiest Montenegrin maritime port, and this time there was the owner of the company, the Norwegian naval magnate Torsten Hagen, who had already built a special relationship with Kotor.
Our port, which was among the first to bring its ships, apparently brought luck to Hagen and his company because “Viking Ocean Cruises” is currently the fastest growing cruising company in the world with a fleet of six new ships, that will be joined in the next few years by another four cruisers made in Italy, as well as two more new expedition cruisers that are made for the "Viking" in Norway.
The director of the Port of Kotor, Captain Branko Kovacevic welcomed the new ship and his 460-member crew, as well as the director of th BCM agency, which represents the "Viking Ocean Cruises" in Montenegro, Captain Goran Macic.
They exchanged appropriate gifts with the commander of the "Viking Jupiter", captain Knutsen, whereby the Norwegian received a painting representing Perast islands of Our Lady of the Rocks and St. George, which made Knutsen very happy because these two islands in Boka are one of the most beautiful attractions and motives which travelers keep as their longest and most precious memories.
The delegation from Montenegro was able to visit the new 227-meter-long and 28-meter-wide cruiser of 47,800 gross tons, with the unique honor of visiting the command bridge of this ultramodern ship which is characterized by a high degree of automatization.
"Viking Jupiter" is designed in accordance with the latest "Safe Return to Port" (SRtP) requirements of SOLAS Convention, which means that the ship is capable of safely returning to the nearest port even in the event of a major fire, without the evacuation of passengers and crew in case of emergency, or penetration of water caused by damage to the hull.
The boat is also ecologically powered by an advanced diesel-electric hybrid drive that, along with the optimized form of the underwater hull part, which allows a high cruising speed of 20 knots with the reduced fuel consumption and "Viking Jupiter" also has additional solar power panels, state-of-the-art technology for the treatment of solid waste and waste points, while for the lubrication of bearings in the hulls of its propellant shafts, this ship does not generally use biodegradable oils, as is the case with other vessels, but the seawater itself.
Text by Sinisa Lukovic, on February 11th 2019, read more at Vijesti
