Smoother seas for Hurtigruten

Norway’s famed coastal shipping line Hurtigruten could report some improved results last week but continues to face booking challenges during the winter season. Bookings from European passengers were also said to be tough, given economic problems on the continent. Newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN) reported that the legendary shipping line, however, logged its best operating result [...]

Classic ‘Lofoten’ calls at Lofoten

PHOTO FEATURE: As the Easter holidays settled in, there was no break for the “Hurtigruten” vessels that sail up and down the Norwegian coast. We spotted several calling at Svolvær in Lofoten over the weekend, including the classic old ‘MS Lofoten,’ which still plies the route between Bergen and Kirkenes and berthed once again in [...]

Hurtigruten ship ran aground

Norway’s coastal shipping line Hurtigruten suffered another accident Monday night, this one rather embarrassing, admitted the captain involved. While showing tourists the opening of the famous Trollfjord on the eastern end of the Lofoten peninsula, the vessel ran aground. “This isn’t any fun, but what can I say,” Brynjar Ulvøy, captain on board the Hurtigruten vessel [...]

Rough seas for Hurtigruten

Higher costs, lower revenues and a spate of unfortunate events cast Norway’s venerable coastal shipping line Hurtigruten into rough seas last year. The line logged a heavy loss, twice as big as the one the year before, but now hopes for smoother sailing. This year also seems off to a turbulent start, with recent reports [...]

Ship tunnel plan sails forward

Plans for a huge tunnel for ships at Norway’s stormy West Cape might finally be given the go-ahead this spring. It would be the first such tunnel in the world and could become a major tourist attraction, but critics blast the project as being a fantasy without social merit. If approved, reports newspaper Aftenposten, the [...]

Hurtigrute ship sailing again after crash in Bergen

The Hurtigruten ship MS Vesterålen was cleared to resume sailing along Norway’s coast on Wednesday after  what officials call a “mysterious” crash into its pier at Bergen on Tuesday. The collision tore down a passenger bridge and caused minor damage to the vessel as well. “It’s still a mystery why the Vesterålen suddenly lost power [...]

Cost cuts propel Hurtigruten’s move

Another round of cost-cutting is behind an impending move by Hurtigruten, the coastal passenger and cargo shipping line, to a new, consolidated head office in Tromsø. Hurtigruten will be leaving Narvik after 100 years, affecting the jobs of around 140 employees. Hurtigruten sent a message to the Oslo Stock Exchange late last week saying that [...]

Extra Hurtigruten support was illegal

The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) has ruled that a transport contract between the Norwegian state and the coastal shipping line Hurtigruten has included illegal state support of the shipping line. An EFTA court upheld an earlier conclusion by EFTA’s Surveillance Authority (ESA) on Monday, and its ruling can’t be appealed. Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported that [...]

Hurtigruten ads banned in China

Norway’s famed coastal voyage called “Hurtigruten” had targeted the emerging market of Chinese tourists but suddenly seems to have found itself Shanghaied by Chinese authorities who are angry with the Norwegian government. Hurtigruten will no longer be allowed to market or promote Norway or its coastal cruises along the Norwegian coast in China, according to [...]

Executive changes at two big Norwegian companies

New chief executives for two of Norway’s most high-profile companies are needed, after the top boss at coastal cruise- and shipping line Hurtigruten resigned and the man in charge at industrial firm Orkla got fired. Olav Fjell, a former chief executive at Statoil, had taken the helm at Hurtigruten five years ago and was responsible [...]

Hurtigruten ship in charter conflict

A Hurtigruten ship that was chartered to house oil workers off the coast of western Australia is now the subject of a conflict over extra costs that Hurtigruten wants the Australian charterer to pay. Meanwhile, the shipping line best known for its routes along the Norwegian coast reported “disappointing” results for last year. Not even [...]

Hurtigruten classic gets NRK send-off

Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) is going back on board another Hurtigruten ship to document its voyage from Kirkenes south to Bergen. It won’t be another minute-by-minute television marathon, though, rather a fond farewell to the oldest vessel in the Hurtigruten fleet. The MS Nordstjernen, built in Hamburg in 1956, is being retired from service this spring. [...]

Hurtigruten ship may sail again soon

The Hurtigruten ship MS Nordlys, struck by a dramatic fire in its engine room earlier this month, may be able to sail again as early as this winter. Inspections of the vessel are underway at the Fiskarstrand shipyard near Ålesund, where the vessel was saved from capsizing. Initial examinations of the vessel indicate the damage [...]

Same motor, but still sailing

UPDATED: Four other ships in the Hurtigruten line have the same motor as the one that caught fire on board the MS Nordlys last week. Hurtigruten officials, however, see no reason to pull them out of service so they’re sailing as usual along the Norwegian coast. Meanwhile, the heavily damaged Nordlys was towed to a [...]

New accident hits Hurtigruten

As salvage crews began the work of unloading the stricken Hurtigruten ship hit by fire last week, another vessel in the Norwegian coastal shipping line had an accident at Båtsfjord in the far north. That vessel, however, was able to continue its voyage to Kirkenes where it could be repaired. This time, reports local newspaper [...]

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