Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1481670
T H E V I K I N G S T O R Y How one man's vision led to a new way to sail WHEN TORSTEIN HAGEN FOUNDED VIKING with four ships in Russia, he had few supporters and even fewer who believed in his vision He was 54 years old and had spent much of his career in Norway in shipping, bearing witness to an industry that was ripe for change Our Norwegian-born patriarch had a deep desire to create something diff erent – and as anyone who has travelled with us will tell you, diff erent is exactly what you get on a Viking cruise In 2022, we celebrated 25 years in business In this time, Chairman Torstein – who the Viking family knows simply as 'Tor' – has built an award- winning fl eet of over 80 state-of-the-art river, ocean and expedition ships Our fl eet of 72 river ships, comprised predominantly of our Viking Longships, continues to expand, with three new custom-built ships set to sail the waterways of South East Asia, Egypt and the United States In 2022, we also ushered in a new era of exploration as we welcomed our fi rst expedition ships Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris to the fl eet A family-owned and operated business when it began, Viking remains a family-owned business to TO R S T E I N H AG E N , BA S E L , S W I T Z E R L A N D "When we founded Viking with four river vessels in 1997, we had a vision that travel could be more destination focused and culturally immersive." To r s t e i n H a g e n , C h a i r m a n , V i k i n g Viking River Cruises established by Torstein Hagen with the purchase of four Russian river ships 1998 With the purchase of KD River Cruises, Viking becomes the largest river cruise operator in Europe 2005 Viking is the fi rst to use hybrid diesel electric engines 2012 1997 Viking purchases nine additional ships and expands operations into the rivers of Europe 2000 Viking introduces French balconies — the fi rst river cruise line to do so 2009 Four state-of-the- art Viking Longships launched, with patented layout and largest river cruise suites in Europe 6