The history of the Coastal Express Hurtigruten dates all the way back to 1893 when the company Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab started to operate a shipping line from Trondheim to Hammerfest. With only a break during the second world war, Hurtigruten has operated since. It sails 365 days a year and it it makes a call in many many ports along the coast twice a day, one call northbound and one southbound.
Today Hurtigruten puts much emphasis on tourism. Thousands of tourists from all over the world (many from Germany and England) spend a week or just a day or two of their holiday sailing the Hurtigruten. In winter they experience the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) playing on the sky over the spectacular wintery mountains falling into the fjords.
In summer they get to see the Midnight Sun and the same spectacular mountains and fjords. In summer you even get the Geiranger Fjord, maybe the most beautiful nature has offer in Norway.
Even if tourism has become very important for the shipping line, it still holds a great importance for transporting goods and people up and down the coast. And today I and my new Sonett will be goods and people, or preferably the other way around.
