Safety at our Core

At the heart of VIKING lies an important mission to protect and save human lives all over the world.

Since 1960, our solutions have protected passengers and crew on many of the world’s largest cruise liners and cargo ships as well as workers on the most advanced offshore platforms. We also safeguard the ability of shipowners and offshore asset owners or operators to manage their businesses by ensuring safety and regulatory compliance on board at all times.

Mission

Vision

Values

5000+

Lives saved

3300+

Employees

280+

Certified service stations

85+

Branch offices

Training academies

Our history

The story of VIKING begins in a town where people know that the sea gives and the sea takes away. For decades, anxious women waited through storms for signs of life from their men at sea. Some in vain, others relieved when their loved ones managed to defy nature’s power and rescue themselves.

The fishermen have now disappeared from Esbjerg, Denmark’s most western town. But VIKING remains – now as a global corporation that has long since conquered the world’s oceans and whose name is synonymous with safety at sea. For fishermen, merchant seafarers, ship passengers, offshore workers, sports and leisure sailors, and everyone who sails the seas.

Our founding family

VIKING is also the story of the Sørensen family, whose generations have made their mark on the town and its harbor. Tage Sørensen (1915-2016) founded Nordisk Gummibådsfabrik, now known as VIKING Life-Saving Equipment A/S, in 1960. He remained the company’s active chairman until 2010, when he retired at the age of 95. Tage Sørensen was influenced by the Boy Scout movement and its ideals: honesty, responsibility, helpfulness and respect for others. His values still shape the culture of our company and define its character, helping to guide us as we grow.

The VIKING timeline

A part of the Claus Sørensen Foundation

VIKING is a privately held corporation with the Claus Sørensen Foundation as the ultimate majority shareholder. The foundation is a commercial foundation, which wholly or partly owns the following companies through its subsidiary Claus Sørensen’s Foundation Holding A/S.