Royal Caribbean Cruise Line was founded in 1968 by three Norwegian shipping companies: Anders Wilhelmsen & Company, I.M. Skaugen & Company, and Gotaas Larsen. The newly created line put its first ship, "Song of Norway", into service two years later. A year later, the line added "Nordic Prince" to the fleet and in 1972 it added "Sun Viking". In 1978, "Song of Norway" became Royal Caribbean's first passenger ship to be lengthened. This was accomplished via the insertion of an section to the vessel's severed center. Following the success of this work, "Nordic Prince" was also stretched in 1980. During the stretching of both ships, their sterns were modified, however "Sun Viking" was not stretched or modified. In 1982, Royal Caribbean launched "Song of America", over twice the size of "Sun Viking" and at the time the third largest passenger vessel afloat (after "Norway" and ).