Nesodden News

Wilhelmsen Ships Service has assisted with a major vessel-onto-vessel loading operation, that of the transfer of the Oslo-Nesodden ferry, the Prinsen, onto the Beluga Foundation, a 456 ft long heavy lift cargo vessel. On 26 September the Prinsen fast ferry, which has been running between Nesodden and central Oslo for the last 14 years, was transferred onto the Beluga Foundation to be transported to its new home in Abu Dhabi. The unusual assignment was undertaken by Wilhelmsen Ships Service’s project logistics team.

Aker Yards signed a contract with Tide Sjø AS for three ferries dedicated to operate the link between Oslo and the peninsula of Nesodden. The ferries will be built in France at Aker Yards, Lorient. The total contract price is approximately EUR 45 million. Construction will start in March next year and all three ferries will be delivered in the first half of 2009 and start operating in July 2009. The three ferries will have a capacity of 600 passengers and will be using environmental friendly LNG propulsion, a technology in which Aker Yards has a strong track record. Recently, five LNG-fuelled ferries were delivered for operation on the west coast of Norway.

Three of the popular cruise-ferries that ply Norway's coastal route from Bergen to Kirkenes are targeted to be pulled out of service if a ferry strike spreads. The vessels will be affected by a strike that started over the weekend and is gradually spreading around the country. The Norwegian officers' union recently warned that the strike will spread from midnight on May 20. The three vessels in the so-called Hurtigruten, or "Coastal Voyage" line, include the MS Nordkapp, MS Lofoten and MS Trollfjord. The strike would disrupt sailings just as the busy summer tourist season is getting underway. Several other local ferries and fast ferries along Norway's coast will also be idled, including the key Halsa-Kanestraum ferry crossing on the E39 highway between Molde and Trondheim.

Norwegian commuters sat in bigger traffic jams than usual on Monday, after a nationwide ferry strike halted service on routes that usually carry thousands of passengers. Oslo was among the hardest hit, after all ferry service from the suburban Nesodden peninsula was suspended over the weekend. An estimated 10,000 commuters use the Nesodden ferries every day, and many were forced to make the long drive south along the peninsula and then north again to Oslo. Ferry service was also cancelled or severely reduced around the country, and three of the popular Coastal Voyage (Hurtigruten) vessels were also forced to tie up and offload their passengers and cargo. That left hundreds of tourists disappointed and confused.