Viking Cruises has released a new online video highlighting the inaugural float out ceremony for its first ocean ship – the 930-passenger Viking Star – set to debut in early 2015.

The traditional ceremony took place at Fincantieri’s Marghera shipyard outside Venice, Italy.

This marked a major construction milestone – the first time the ship touched water – and kicks off the final stage of outfitting and interior build-out.

Accompanying the new video, Viking also announced that Trude Drevland, the mayor of Bergen, Norway, will be godmother to Viking Star and will officially “name” the ship during a christening ceremony on May 17th, 2015 – Norwegian Constitution Day.

Trude was on-hand at the shipyard to assist with the float-out ceremony, helping weld coins to the ship – a good luck practice that dates back to Roman times – and cutting a cord to allow water to begin flowing into the ship’s building dock.

“I am so privileged to be godmother to the new Viking Star,” said Drevland.

“She will be the soul of Scandinavia, with some touches of Bergen. I will love it!”

Take a look at the video below: