Chief Engineer Dag Austad

Viking Chief Engineer Dag Austad was born and raised in Tønsberg, Norway, a city whose rich history is inseparably tied to the sea. Having grown up in such an environment, it is no surprise that Dag decided to pursue a career at sea—and he got his start at the age of 17. While studying to be a maritime engineer, he began working on a car ferry that transported vehicles between Norway and Denmark, and he remained with the company for nearly two decades. He then moved on to an offshore vessel, where he worked for the next 18 years before joining Viking a year and a half ago. For Dag, the best part of his job is that no two days are the same. He never knows what is around the next corner, and he enjoys taking on the various challenges of working on board a cruise ship.

Executive Chef Thomas Noack

Viking Executive Chef Thomas Noack began his culinary journey at the age of 16 when he moved to Dresden, Germany, on a Hilton apprenticeship. After completing his certification, he briefly moved to Basel, Switzerland, and Italy, Rome, where he worked at the Rome Cavalieri, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Inspired by this experience to combine his love of travel, culture and food, he then took his passion for cooking to the seas.

Chef Noack broadened his culinary knowledge while working for various cruise lines, including Hapag-Lloyd as sous chef, Scenic as executive chef, Crystal as chef de cuisine and Seabourn as executive chef. By 2017, he had joined Viking as an executive sous chef, and it was not long before he was promoted to executive chef. He has since taken our guests on gastronomical odysseys over two world voyages, and he is proud to be a part of the Viking family.

Captain Olav Soevdsnes

Born and raised in the small village of Rovde, Norway, Captain Olav Soevdsnes remembers marveling at the cruise ships sailing by as a child, never dreaming he would one day master the helm of such a vessel. Captain Soevdsnes joined Viking in 2018 after gaining more than 30 years of nautical experience as both staff and master captain. He takes pride in his work, planning ahead and building teamwork to ensure safe passage for guests on board.

A true seaman, Captain Soevdsnes is hard-pressed to pick a favorite destination. While he prefers to see the world over and over again, one of his most memorable moments was from the 2019 Viking World Cruise, when he navigated Viking Sun across Null Island, a unique coordinate where the prime meridian and equator intersect off the West African coast.

Interestingly, Captain Soevdsnes was born a triplet and his two brothers are also sea captains. One works in the oil fields in the North Sea, and the other has been with Viking as well since 2019.

Captain Atle H. Knutsen

Captain Atle H. Knutsen saw his first cruise ship at age six and knew that he was destined to be a sea captain. He learned how to navigate in the local fjords, and trained and earned his nautical degrees at Norwegian maritime academies. During his 30-plus years on cruise ships, he worked his way up the ranks from deckhand on board Royal Viking Sea to master and enjoyed a diverse maritime career. In addition to his vast experience in the cruise industry, he has worked on ferries, served in the Royal Norwegian Navy, and commanded the private yacht Rising Sun and Sea Launch’s Odyssey.

Captain Knutsen is particularly proud to have been with Viking since the company launched its ocean fleet, with which he also shares the same home port—Bergen, Norway. He has served as master on nearly every Viking ocean ship and will soon be heading to the shipyard in Ancona, Italy, to prepare for the 2021 debut of the fleet’s newest addition, Viking Venus.