Viking has named popular British journalist and broadcaster Anne Diamond as the godmother of the new 930-passenger Viking Venus, the line's seventh oceangoing ship.
Floated out in June 2020, the ship is now in the final stages of construction at Fincantieri's shipyard in Ancona, Italy. It's scheduled to debut this spring.
Beyond that, Viking continues to build its brand by expanding its ocean fleet, adding more river vessels and recently "floating out" its first expedition ship.
A U.K. Household Name
Diamond is best known for her pioneering work on morning shows in the United Kingdom during the 1980s—along with her career in frontline television that has lasted for more than four decades. She's covered everything from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, to interviews with Bette Davis, Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
Diamond also has been a key figure on Viking’s own enrichment channel, Viking TV (www.viking.tv), which went live in March 2020. Every Thursday since the launch of the online live streaming channel, Diamond has interviewed a number of significant people who have relationships to Viking; these include cellist and humanitarian Yo-Yo Ma; Xander Parish, principal ballet dancer at the Mariinsky Theatre; the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon; the Duke of Devonshire; explorer Robin Hanbury-Tenison; Rebecca Eaton, former PBS Masterpiece executive producer; NASA astronauts Dr. Anna Fisher and Dr. Richard Michael Linnehan, and others.
“On behalf of the entire Viking family, we are delighted and honored to have Anne serve as the godmother of Viking Venus,” said Karine Hagen, executive vice president of Viking. “Since the day we paused operations, Anne immediately volunteered to help our guests and crew manage through this period of uncertainty."
Expressing how much she was honored to be entrusted with the godmother duties, Diamond said she "cannot wait until we can celebrate [the ship's] inaugural cruise in a safer and happier 2021."
Expedition Ship Float-Out
In addition to the growth of its oceangoing fleet of 930-passenger vessels including Viking Venus, Viking also will launch its first expedition ship, the 378-passenger Viking Octantis this spring.
Floated out in late December (see photo above courtesy of Viking), that new expedition ship will spend its maiden season sailing to Antarctica and North America’s Great Lakes.
Liv Arnesen and Ann Bancroft have been named godmothers to Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris, respectively. Arnesen, a native Norwegian, became the first woman in the world to ski solo and unsupported to the South Pole in 1994. Bancroft is the first woman to successfully ski to both poles. Arnesen and Bancroft also became the first women to ski across Antarctica in 2001.
For more information, visit www.viking.com.
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