Sarah Bretz, ContributorOn Tuesday Viking named its two newest Nile River ships, Viking Hathor and Viking Sobek, with a special celebration in Luxor, Egypt.
The Hon. Edward Herbert served as ceremonial godfather of Viking Hathor. His great-great-grandfather, the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, was Howard Carter’s benefactor and co-explorer, whose excavation uncovered the tomb of King Tutankhamen near Luxor almost exactly 102 years ago on November 4, 1922.
Mohamed El Banna, founder of Cosmos Egypt and a member of the Egyptian Senate, served as the ceremonial godfather of the Viking Sobek. Viking Hathor and Viking Sobek are identical sister ships to Viking Aton and Viking Osiris and are state-of-the-art vessels designed specifically to navigate the Nile River on Viking’s popular 12-day Pharaohs & Pyramids itinerary and built at Massara shipyard in Cairo.
“Today, we are proud to welcome the Viking Hathor and the Viking Sobek to our growing fleet in Egypt. Along with their sister ships, we believe they are by far the most elegant vessels on the Nile,” said Torstein Hagen, Chairman and CEO of Viking. “We are very grateful for our continued close friendship with the Carnarvon family and that Eddie has honored us by serving as godfather of the Viking Hathor. For more than 15 years, Mohamed El Banna has been a part of the extended Viking family, helping to take good care of our guests in Egypt, and it is a great honor that he is serving as godfather of the Viking Sobek. As our award-winning fleet on the Nile continues to grow, we look forward to introducing even more curious travelers to this phenomenal destination.”
The naming ceremony of the two vessels took place at Viking’s exclusive docking location in Luxor and was followed by a celebratory dinner inside the nearby Karnak Temple. Viking’s guests also enjoyed a performance by Sissel Kyrkjebø, one of the world’s leading crossover sopranos and godmother of the Viking Jupiter, who sang the Egyptian, Norwegian and United Kingdom’s national anthems in their native languages.
Hosting 82 guests in 41 staterooms, Viking Hathor and Sobek are inspired by Viking’s other river and ocean ships with the Scandinavian design that Viking is known for.
Identical sister ships to Viking Osiris and Viking Aton, Viking Hathor and Viking Sobek feature several aspects familiar to Viking guests, such as a distinctive square bow and an indoor/outdoor Aquavit Terrace. Other ships in the Egypt fleet include Viking Ra and MS Antares. Viking plans to welcome four additional ships in the next two years: two in 2025 and two in 2026. That would bring Viking’s Nile River fleet to 10 vessels.
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