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 a downturn in the international economy was hitting Hurtigruten hard. Around 65 employees are likely to lose their jobs.
The line’s ships remain popular with passengers and also are attracting new groups of tourists in the winter, traditionally the off-season. New chief executive Daniel Skjeldam said Hurtigruten, however, “has delivered weak results or posted a loss for 10 years,” and the international market downturn renews pressure “on travel industry players like us.”
He said Hurtigruten’s offices in both Narvik and Tromsø would be sold and the company would instead lease new consolidated office space in Tromsø.
newsinenglish.no staff
