Hurtigruten, formally Kystruten Bergen-Kirkenes, is a Norwegian public coastal route transporting passengers that travel locally, regionally and between the ports of call, and also cargo between ports north of Tromsø.
MS Expedition is an expedition cruise ship owned and operated by the Canada-based G Adventures. She was built as a car/passenger ferry in 1972 by Helsingør Skibsværft og Maskinbyggeri A/S, Helsingør, Denmark as Kattegat for Jydsk Færgefart A/S. Subsequently, she sailed under the names nf Tiger for P&O Normandy Ferries, Tiger for Townsend Thoresen and Ålandsfärjan for Viking Line, prior to conversion into a cruise ship in 2008. The MS Expedition has the IMO number 7211074 and is ice-strengthened, having an ice class of 1B. There are two higher classes, being 1A Super and 1A.
Norwegian Sky is a Sun-class cruise ship owned and operated by Norwegian Cruise Line. She was originally ordered by Costa Cruises as Costa Olympia from the Bremer Vulkan shipyard in Germany, but she was completed in 1999 by the Lloyd Werft shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany for the Norwegian Cruise Line under the name Norwegian Sky. Between 2004 and 2008, she sailed as Pride of Aloha for NCL America.
The MS Crown Iris is a cruise ship owned by Mano Maritime. She was originally ordered by Birka Line as MS Birka Queen from the Wärtsilä Marine Turku Shipyard in Finland, but completed by Kvaerner Masa-Yards as MS Royal Majesty for Majesty Cruise Line. In 1997 she was sold to Norwegian Cruise Line as MS Norwegian Majesty and lengthened by 33.76 m at the Lloyd Werft shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany. She was sold to Louis Cruises as MS Louis Majesty from 2008 to 2012 when she was chartered to Thomson Cruises as MS Thomson Majesty before being returned to Louis Cruises/Celestyal Cruises, as the Majesty. In 2018 the ship was sold to Mano Maritime.
HMY Alexandra was a steamship built as a British royal yacht, completed in 1908. Normally transporting Britain's royal family to European ports, Alexandra served as a hospital ship during the First World War. After 17 years of British service, she was sold to Norwegian commercial interests in 1925. Renamed Prins Olav, she was first used as a luxury cruise ship on trips to the North Cape, she was converted to take more passengers and cargo. In 1937 she began sailing as a Hurtigruten passenger/cargo ship along the coast of Norway. After being requisitioned by the Norwegian government following the 9 April 1940 German invasion of Norway, she transported troops for the Norwegian war effort. Prins Olav was sunk by German bombers on 9 June 1940, while attempting to escape to the United Kingdom as the Norwegian Campaign was coming to an end.
MS Celestyal Olympia is a cruise ship owned by the Cyprus-based Celestyal Cruises, formerly Louis Cruise Lines. In April 2012 she was named Louis Olympia after operating as the Thomson Destiny for Thomson Cruises. She was built in 1982 at Wärtsilä Hietalahti shipyard in Helsinki, Finland for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines as MS Song of America. Between 1999 and 2004 she sailed for Sun Cruises as MS Sunbird. She was previously under charter to the United Kingdom-based Thomson Cruises until April 2012 as the MS Thomson Destiny. She has since sailed for Louis Cruises as MS Louis Olympia, and as MS Celestyal Olympia since 2014.
The MS Starward was a cruise ship built in 1968 at the AG Weser shipyard in Bremerhaven, West Germany. Originally commissioned for Norwegian Caribbean Line after the success of its first ship, Sunward, Starward was the first purpose-built ship for the newly-established cruise line. In 1995, Starward was sold to Festival Cruises, which they renamed the vessel Bolero. The vessel was shortly chartered to Spanish Cruise Line, however, it was sold to Abou Merhi Cruises after Festival Cruises was forced to declare bankruptcy in early 2004. In 2006, Louis Cruise Lines bought Orient Queen and kept the name intact. Orient Queen was briefly used the United States Government in 2006 to evacuate U.S. citizens out of Lebanon due to conflict between Lebanon and Israel. Louis Cruise Lines renamed the ship to Louis Aura in 2012. In 2017, Etstur, a Turkish travel agency, chartered the ship and renamed it to Aegean Queen. She was sold to for scrap the following year, and was broken up in Alang, India.
Hurtigruten AS is a Norwegian coastal ferry service and cruise line headquartered in Oslo, Norway. It is one of two companies currently operating Hurtigruten, the coastal ferry service along the Norwegian coast from which it takes its name.
MS Nordlys is a Norwegian-registered cruise ship operated by Hurtigruten. She was built by Volkswerft GmbH in Stralsund, Germany in 1994. She has two sister ships, Kong Harald and Richard With which also sail for Hurtigruten. The ship caught fire in September 2011 while sailing off Ålesund, Norway.
The MS Nordnorge is a Hurtigruten ship. It was completed in 1997 by Kværner Kleven in Ulsteinvik, Norway, as a sister ship to MS Polarlys and MS Nordkapp. The Nordnorge has a gross tonnage of 11,386, crew capacity of 57, and can carry up to 691 passengers.
MS Nordkapp is a Hurtigruten ship built in 1996 by Kleven Verft AS, Norway, for Ofotens og Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab for use in Hurtigruten ferry service along the coast of Norway. She is a sister ship of MS Polarlys and MS Nordnorge. Nordkapp is one of 11 ships that travel the Norwegian coast from Bergen to Kirkenes.
SS Irma was a 1,322-ton steamship built by the British shipyard Sir Raylton Dixon & Co. Ltd. in Middlesbrough in the north-east of England. She was delivered to the Norwegian passenger ship company Det Bergenske Dampskibsselskab of Bergen in 1905. Irma sailed for the company until she was attacked and sunk by two MTBs belonging to the Royal Norwegian Navy on 13 February 1944.
Heritage Adventurer is an ice-strengthened expedition cruise ship built in 1991 by Rauma shipyard in Finland. She was originally named Society Adventurer, but after Discoverer Reederei was unable to take delivery of the vessel due to financial troubles, the completed ship was laid up at the shipyard for almost two years. In 1993, she was acquired by Hanseatic Tours and renamed Hanseatic. In 2018, she was chartered to One Ocean Expeditions and renamed RCGS Resolute through a partnership with the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. In 2021, she was acquired by Heritage Expeditions and, following an extensive refit, entered service in 2022 with her current name.
The Bergen Steamship Company (BDS), was founded in 1851 by Michael Krohn to operate a shipping service between the Norwegian ports of Bergen, Stavanger, and Kristiansand and the German port of Hamburg with the paddle steamer Bergen. The company funnel was black with three widely spaced narrow white bands.
MS Lofoten is a Norwegian passenger and cargo vessel formerly owned and operated by Hurtigruten AS. The ship was built in 1964. After MS Nordstjernen was retired from coastal service in 2012, MS Lofoten became the oldest ship in the current fleet still in operation. It operates cruises around the coast of Norway and sometimes in the Svalbard archipelago. The vessel was declared worthy of preservation in 2001 by the Norwegian Director General of Historic Monuments to preserve Norway's cultural heritage. She has been refitted several times—in 1980, 1985, 1995 and most recently in 2004.
MS Maud is a Hurtigruten AS vessel built by Bruces Verkstad in Sweden and Fosen mekaniske verksteder in Rissa, Norway in 2001. It is the fourth ship to sail for Hurtigruten to bear this name. She has a sister ship, MS Trollfjord, which also sails for Hurtigruten. MS Midnatsol was renamed MS Maud in 2021.
SS Nordnorge was a Norwegian steamship built in 1923–24 by Trondhjems mekaniske Værksted, for the Narvik-based Norwegian shipping company Ofotens Dampskibsselskap. First employed on the company's Narvik-Trondheim route, she was transferred to the longer Hurtigruten route in late 1936. Seized by the Germans following their April 1940 attack on Norway, she was used as covert troop ship and was sunk shortly after delivering her cargo of German troops behind Allied lines on 10 May 1940.
SS Sirius was a Norwegian iron-hulled steamship built in Germany in 1885. Sirius spent over 55 years sailing with cargo, regular passengers and tourists between Norway and Europe, and on the Norwegian coast. In 1894-1895, she served a year on the Hurtigruten route on the coast of Norway, before reverting to her former duties.
MS Otto Sverdrup, formerly known as MS Finnmarken, is a Norwegian coastal ship owned and operated by Hurtigruten ASA. It was built in 2002 at Kværner Kleven, Ulsteinvik, Norway, and cost around 750 million Norwegian Kroner (nok). It was part of the Hurtigruten coastal route from 2002 to 2009. In 2010 it was leased as a hotel ship in Australia. The ship returned to Norway in 2012 and is now a part of the coastal route travelling between Bergen and Kirkenes.
MS Roald Amundsen is a new hybrid powered Hurtigruten expedition cruise ship. She was built by Kleven Yards of Norway and started her maiden voyage on 3 July 2019 from the Norwegian port Tromsø to Hamburg. She and her sister ship Fridtjof Nansen are the first hybrid-powered ships in the Hurtigruten fleet.
