Hurtigruten announces fleet expansion

Hurtigruten, the Norwegian exploration travel company, has ordered up to four new explorer ships to launch in 2018-19.

The deal marks the biggest investment Hurtigruten has made in its 120-year history.

The order includes the construction of two new vessels, which will be designed and customised for  voyages in the Arctic and Antarctic, as well as along the Norwegian coastline. The deal includes a clause for a potential two further ships, should the company wish.

Daniel Skjeldam, Hurtigruten’s CEO said: “This is a milestone for us and an expression of our confidence in the growth of the global market for adventure tourism. We are to build the most formidable expedition ships the world has seen.

“People no longer want to spend their holiday time being passive spectators. The new adventure traveller is looking for authentic experiences, which is why sedentary, standardised travel packages are becoming less popular and active adventure travel is booming” Skjeldam added. “Our experience is that explorers travelling with Hurtigruten crave adventurous activities and mindfulness in combination, therefore Hurtigruten offers active voyages. We offer real experiences in local environments, just steps away from the wildlife.”

Magnus Zetterberg, UK managing director of Hurtigruten said: “We offer our guests a truly unique experience on-board all of our ships. Every season we’ve seen an increase in demand from guests to travel with Hurtigruten for the unrivalled range of adventure activities we offer. It has been more than ten years since Hurtigruten last placed an order for the construction of a new ship so the prospect of being able to expand this with the arrival of new vessels is very exciting.”

The vessels will be designed and developed by Rolls-Royce, with the assistance of renowned Norwegian ship designer Espen Øino, and built by Kleven, a longstanding partner.