Hurtigruten
Hurtigruten Norwegian Coastal Voyage - How to Book
Whilst the 19th century and the Industrial Revolution had brought comforts and innovative advances to the citizens of Oslo and the southern ports, the region beyond Bergen was still seen as a remote wilderness, hemmed in by dramatic landscapes and unforgiving seas.
So when a seasoned Norwegian sea captain called Richard With proposed a regular steam ship service to link northern and southern Norway, many saw it as an unrealistic folly. Originally intended as a weekly daylight service from Trondheim to Hammerfest, delivering mail, cargo and passengers, this audacious mariner then proposed to extend the service to travel both day and night, winter and summer. His intention was to sail through waters that at this juncture had still not been mapped, through a landscape that for centuries had only been accessible from the sea.
For 90 years the Coastal Express became the most important communication link between the north and south and it is from these pioneering voyages that the Hurtigruten tradition stems. Translating as ‘fast route’, it was the quickest and most reliable passage into the remote lands of northern Norway, regardless of weather conditions. Indeed it was not until 1983 that the mail delivery was finally entrusted to road and air routes. It is this heritage and experience that marks out Hurtigruten as one of the most professional and proficient expedition voyage operations on the planet.
The Pioneering Years
During the middle years of the 19th century a few steamers plied the waters along Norway’s northern coast in an attempt by the Norwegian government to unify the country. Then in 1893 the government offered permission for a regular route to be opened up, an offer rejected by all but one man – Richard With. On the 2nd July 1893, Captain With and his boat the Vesterålen sailed from Trondheim, on a journey to Hammerfest that was to take 67 hours and arrived 20 minutes ahead of schedule! Realising the journey was now indeed possible, a number of other companies joined under the Hurtigruten banner.
The War Years
Following Norway’s independence in 1905, the Great War of 1914 saw the next development in the Hurtigruten story. Kirkenes was included in the route, whilst the reduced production and increased cost of coal deliveries from England resulted in the service being drastically reduced. The Depression years then saw the route regularly disrupted, before the Coastal Express began a boom period, with 1936 seeing the beginning of a daily sailing from Bergen. There were now 14 ships linking the coastal communities, visiting more ports than ever and transporting some 230,000 passengers annually.
The Second World War heralded a dark time for Hurtigruten, suffering the loss of 9 ships and some 700 people, with ironically the Allies destroying twice as many vessels as Germany.
Rebirth and the Future
Following the war it was vital to rebuild the fleet as quickly as possible and the first 4 commissioned ships set new standards in comfort and service, quickly followed by 11 more over the following decade. The latter years of the 20th century saw Hurtigruten’s role change, as cars became more popular and the ship's original remit changed. New ships were built with passenger comfort in mind, with more cabins and panoramic lounges being included to accommodate a new kind of traveller. A new generation of ships was built between 1993 and 2007, ensuring that today we have a fleet of custom designed vessels capable of safely negotiating not only the rugged coastal waters of Norway and the Arctic, but also the remote lands of Spitsbergen and Greenland and the southern oceans off Antarctica.
- Follow in Joanna’s footsteps
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