Coastal Express –
first class, but not financially
To most tourists visiting Norway, the Coastal Express service from Bergen to Kirkenes is the ultimate coastal journey, taking passengers through some of the most spectacular coastal scenery in the world. To the operators, however, the service is becoming a financial quagmire; last year, they lost around NOK 500 million with no light in sight at the end of the tunnel. The service has government support, but the authorities are not prepared to write an open cheque to the newly merged Hurtigruten Group.

From the 1st of March, the new operator of the Coastal Express service is a merger between Troms Fylkes Dampskibsselskap (TFDS) and Ofotens og Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskap (OVDS). The merger could maybe save NOK 200 million annually, cutting down on the deficit of the service. There already is talk of job cuts on shore and on the vessels and maybe even re-flagging.
The operator of the Coastal Express is skating on thin ice because the vessels are too expensive for the general service they perform – in that they really are small cruise vessels, ideally suited for tourists – and have drained the resources of TFDS and OVDS since their start in 1994. However, the Coastal Express journey is more popular than ever in its over 110 years of history.

Political intervention
However, the Coastal Express is more than just a spectacular coastal journey. It also connects 35 cities and hamlets along the over 1,000 miles from Bergen to Kirkenes. It also is part of the cargo distribution network, particularly north of Trondheim. In the past year, cargo volumes have nearly halved, mainly thanks to political measures forcing more cargo from sea to the roads, contrary to the official policy.

The government postal service Posten last year bought Nor-Cargo’s haulage business. Nor-Cargo controlled the cargo space on the Coastal Express, but when the haulage business was sold, Nor-Cargo was in competition with the postal service. Later the Nor-Cargo Sea became Nor-lines, which now has the Coastal Express cargo capacity and finds itself competing with the postal service and Nor-Cargo land transports. The result is that more cargo is taken away from the Coastal Express by subsidised competitors.

Trollfjorden in the Lofoten archipelago is one of the most spectacular fjords in Norway. The legend says that the fjord originally was a lake, but a troll while walking too fast with an axe, fell and cut open a piece of rock and connected the lake to the sea. A Coastal Express vessel is seen entering the southern entrance to the fjord. Photo: Hurtigruten

Tradition counts
As we noted earlier, the Coastal Express service has been around for more than 110 years, and it has quite a dramatic history. Today tourists and other passengers cruise along the coast in considerable luxury and safety, but this was not always the case. In the late 1880’s, the Norwegian authorities wanted to establish this type of service, and in 1891 came the idea of an express service between Trondheim and Hammerfest.

The service was initially offered to Det Bergenske Dampskibsselskap (Bergen Line) and Det Nordenfjeldske Dampskibsselskab. They refused as they regarded sailing during the dark winter months as impossible with only 28 lighthouses and a poor map coverage of the area. However, a relative newcomer to the game, Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab in Stockmarknes, took on the challenging job to service the new route. Captain Richard With – one of the modern Coastal Express vessels bears his name – and some of his pilots felt they had the knowledge to run the service safely. On the 2nd of July 1893 the steamer Vesteraalen left Trondheim for Hammerfest and thus began a weekly service. The unique experience gained since that time is what makes the Coastal Express more than just an express service. It is more like a way of life.

Many companies involved
Many shipping companies and many famous vessels were involved over the next 110 years, until the process culminated in one company, the Hurtigruten Group, running the service today. We have already mentioned the pioneering work of captain Richard With and his eminent pilot Anders Holte. These two pioneers made the service possible. It is worth mentioning that the vessels had to journey from Trondheim to Svolvær (in Lofoten) in no more than 48 hours to keep their licence. They did it in 34 hours.

	“Polarlys”, built in 1996, was one of the first of the series of modern, cruise-type passenger vessels deployed on the service between Bergen and Kirkenes. Photo: Hurtigruten

The first vessel, the Vesteraalen, was owned by Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab, which was founded in 1881 by Richard With. In 1893 the service was extended southwards to Bergen, and in 1914 Kirkenes became the northern terminus. Calls by the Coastal Express service every day at 35 different stops on the route became possible in 1936, after a period when a series of modern vessels were built.

It was obvious that more companies were needed to participate in the service to make it grow. The first one after Vesteraalens was Det Bergenske Damskibsselskap (DBS) with the vessels Sirius, Jupiter, Orion, Capella and Astrea and Nordenfjeldske with the Erling Jarl, Kong Halfdan, Haakon Adalsein and Haakon Jarl (with Ofotens Dampskibsselskap). Later, companies like Det Stavangerske Damskibsselskab (DSD), Finnmarks Fylkesrederi (FFR) and Nordlands Dampskibsselskap (NDS) joined the game for shorter or longer periods, until only TFDS and OVDS were left. Their Coastal Express activities have now merged.

The way forward
Because the Coastal Express service is subsidised by the Government, it is liable to suffer at the hands of the Ministry of Transport, which owns the competitor, the postal service Posten. The Hurtigruten management is talking about tough measures to tighten the reins and initiate further savings. However, the manning at sea is down to a bare minimum. As we have noted earlier, some considerable savings can be made by this merger, but not onboard the vessels. It is time to think about higher earnings, not more savings. With expensive ships, the capital costs are high, and the vessels must earn more.

Long before the last merger, both TFDS and OVDS were looking at new ways of using their vessels, particularly the most modern units. The results have been cruises to the Baltic, to Chile and the Antarctic, to Spitzbergen and Greenland and even the Mediterranean. All of these cruises are fully booked and could be the way forward. In order to maintain a high class express service along the Norwegian cost, to cater for local needs and for tourists, Hurtigruten needs room to manoeuvre financially in order to deploy the fleet and maximise earnings.

//Petter Arentz