Hurtigruten AS


Hurtigruten AS, formerly Hurtigruten Group ASA and Hurtigruten ASA, is a Norwegian transport corporation with headquarters in Tromsø, Norway. The company provides services in bus transport, passenger ferry transport, automobile ferry transport, cruise ships, and tourism planning — in addition to operating Hurtigruten, the coastal ferry service along the Norwegian coast from which it takes its name.

History

Hurtigruten AS is the result of a merger between the two previous operators of the Hurtigruten service: Ofotens og Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab and Troms Fylkes Dampskibsselskap. TFDS was founded in 1866, and OVDS was established in 1868. The two companies merged in March 2006 to form Hurtigruten Group ASA, and twelve months later the merged entity assumed the name Hurtigruten ASA. In 2012, the company headquarters was moved from Narvik to Tromsø. In 2015, the legal form of Hurtigruten was changed from ASA to AS. The company is now owned by TDR Capital.

Operations

Coastal express service

Hurtigruten AS is the sole operator of the Hurtigruten, a daily passenger ferry, cruise, and shipping line along the western and northern Norwegian coast. It operates between the southern Bergen and northeastern Kirkenes. A total of 11 ships operate the route.

Cruise ships

Several former Hurtigruten ships now operate as cruise ships to Antarctica, departing from Ushuaia on the Argentine Tierra del Fuego. The route can include the Falkland Islands and South Georgia Islands. Hurtigruten Group acquired the MS Fram for their tour cruises in Greenland.
Other cruises include touring: Iceland, the Mediterranean Region coasts and ports, and the 'Trans-Atlantic Voyage' from Las Palmas in the Canary Islands to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Car ferries

Hurtigruten ASA operates a number of roll-on/roll-off car ferries in Nordland, Troms, Finnmark and Møre og Romsdal.

Tourism

The company owns a number of travel related companies, including the tour operator Spitsbergen Travel and a number of travel agencies in Norway and abroad.
The Hurtigruten Museum is a maritime museum about the 'Hurtigruten' that is located in the port city of Stokmarknes, Norway. The, retired from the coastal express and a museum ship now, is located on shore beside the Hurtigruten Museum.

Former assets

Buses

Hurtigruten ASA owned 71.3% of the transportation company TIRB. The shares were sold to Boreal Transport Nord AS in July 2014 for 95.9 million NOK.

Hotels

Hurtigruten AS owned two hotels in Bergen; Neptun Hotel and Strand Hotel. The hotels were sold to Bergen Hotel in 2008.

Current fleet

Current ships of the fleet include:
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