Viking Yi Dun Leaves Shanghai on 60-Day Mediterranean Voyage

Viking Yi Dun departed Shanghai’s North Bund International Cruise Terminal on June 5, beginning a roughly 60-day voyage from China to the Mediterranean and ending the ship’s Chinese-flag era. Viking said the sailing is the formal launch of its “60-Day Afro-Euro-Asian Discovery Journey,” promoted by the company as its first Chinese-language transcontinental itinerary.

The move shifts the 930-guest vessel from a Chinese-registered role linked to a now-unwound China Merchants-Viking venture into Norwegian-flag operation under the Viking Yi Dun name. For Viking China, the voyage provides a long-haul Chinese-service product as the company reaches its 10th year in the market.

The 60-day route from Shanghai

At an onboard ceremony before departure, Brendan Tansey, managing director of Viking China, said the voyage would cross the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans and call at 27 destinations in 16 countries. The route includes Singapore, Phuket, Sri Lanka, Seychelles, South Africa, Namibia and Morocco, with Tansey identifying Tarragona as the endpoint for that sequence of calls.

The ship is scheduled to arrive in the Barcelona area in early August after sailing through the South China Sea, past Southeast Asia, across the Indian Ocean, around the Cape of Good Hope and into the Mediterranean.

Viking has designed the cruise as an all-Chinese-service long ocean sailing. For guests, the onboard product includes a Mandarin-speaking hotel team, Chinese menus and signage, and a no-casino model, elements Tansey linked to a familiar environment for senior Chinese travelers.

End of the China joint venture chapter

Built in 2017 as Viking Sun, the 745-foot ship later became Zhao Shang Yi Dun after it was acquired by the China Merchants and Viking joint venture and placed on the Chinese register. The vessel was subsequently promoted as China’s first “five-star-flag” oceangoing cruise ship.

Viking and China Merchants Group announced the joint venture in 2019 to develop cruise products for Chinese travelers, with China Merchants Shekou representing the Chinese group. The partnership covered product development, sales, marketing and plans for new ocean cruise ships for China, with Viking Sun as the first vessel connected to the project.

That structure has since unwound. Before the Shanghai departure, the vessel’s hull was repainted, the name was formalized as Viking Yi Dun and the flag changed to Norwegian.

The first regular Mediterranean departures for Viking’s Chinese-language program are scheduled to start Aug. 3 from Barcelona.

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