Viking recently announced its second expedition ship, Viking Polaris, marked a construction milestone — it was “floated out,” which is the first time a new ship touches water. Scheduled to debut in summer 2022, the 378-guest ship will sail its maiden season in the Arctic and Antarctica. Its identical sister ship, Viking Octantis, floated out last December and will debut in early 2022 for Antarctica and Great Lakes sailings.

“We are now one step closer to our launch of ‘the thinking person’s expedition,’ with new voyages that will allow our guests to explore the ends of the world and closer to home — in comfort,” said Torstein Hagen, chairman, Viking. “We are grateful for our long-standing partnership with Fincantieri, who has helped us build the world’s most beautiful ocean ships and are now helping us perfect expedition cruising. We look forward to welcoming guests on board Viking Polaris and Viking Octantis next year.”

A float out denotes a ship is moving into its final stage of construction. Viking Polaris now moves to a nearby outfitting dock for further construction and interior build-out, before delivery at Fincantieri’s VARD shipyard in Søviknes, Norway. Liv Arnesen, the first woman to ski solo and unsupported to the South Pole in 1994, and Ann Bancroft, the first woman to successfully ski to both poles, will be ceremonial godmothers to Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris respectively. Together, they became the first women to ski across Antarctica in 2001 and co-founded Bancroft Arnesen Explore / Access Water, an initiative to engage and empower more than 60 million minds to create a sustainable tomorrow.