Viking Vela
Some details of Viking's latest ship, the Vela, have now been revealed on their website. Here is a summary of what we know so far.
The ship is 39 feet longer and 7 feet wider in the beam than the current fleet and will carry 68 more passengers. The deck plans suggest that most of the additional length results from changes to the rear section of the ship, with the addition of extra cabins and extensions to the main restaurant and world café. The extra width produces a small increase i
I first heard about the small increase in size when onboard the Viking Sun back in 2020.
Being retired now for 10 yrs, I don't pay too much attention to SOLAS changes, so I don't know what changes are requiring the increased size. However, in general terms, increasing a ship's beam increases the Metacentric Height (GM) and Righting Lever (GZ), which is the force that returns a ship to the upright, when inclined.
All based on a similar distribution of weights.
