Viking River Cruises, the world's largest river cruise shipping company, has held a simultaneous naming ceremonies in Amsterdam in the Netherlands and Rostock in Germany involving a total of 12 ships, including 10 Viking Longships and two vessels for the River Elbe, the company said in a statement.

The company now has a fleet of 60 river cruise vessels. "All 10 of the new Viking Longships will be deployed on Viking’s itineraries in Europe, including three of the most popular itineraries – Grand European Tour, Romantic Danube and Rhine Discovery. Also, as a result of high consumer demand for the Elegant Elbe itinerary, the two new specially designed ships will double the company’s capacity on the Elbe River for 2015," Viking River Cruises said in the statement.

“We are immensely proud of the response to our new ships that we continue to receive from guests and industry experts,” said Torstein Hagen, Chairman of Viking Cruises. “It is always important that we recognize those who have helped us achieve success, and this year I am especially pleased to honor fellow Vikings as godmothers of our newest river vessels.

Staying true to the naval tradition, Viking named 12 of its longest-serving employees as ceremonial godmothers for the new ships. With representation from Viking’s onboard operations team, as well as from the operational headquarters in Basel, Switzerland, the corporate headquarters in Los Angeles and the London office, each godmother represents a department that has contributed to the consistently high guest satisfaction ratings and the growth and success of the company. The full list of godmothers includes:

Donora Anderson, Senior Director of Operations and godmother of Viking Skirnir
Clare Armitage, Senior Operations Executive and godmother of Viking Eir
Sinemie Bakker, Program Director and godmother of Viking Astrild
Henrieta Balisova, Program Director and godmother of Viking Vili
Adriana Filkaszova, Receptionist and godmother of Viking Beyla
Jana Hudakova, Chief Receptionist and godmother of Viking Mimir
Miriam Kajuchova, Housekeeper and godmother of Viking Ve
Karoline Landa, Controller & Hotel Manager and godmother of Viking Lofn
Kornelia Pfeiffenberger, Hotel Manager and godmother of Viking Vidar
Faye Pirie, Specialist Cruise Consultant and godmother of Viking Modi
Julie Rosoff, Senior Director of Marketing Services and godmother of Viking Mani
Verona Thiele, Concierge and godmother of Viking Gefjon