Hurtigruten will sail to Russia’s Arctic, Northwest Passage

By Elisabeth Bergquist, High North News - December 5, 2017
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Hurtigruten, the ships traditionally sailing along the Norwegian coast between Bergen and Kirkenes, will in 2019 continue its Arctic expansion, including sailing the Northwest Passage as well as between Tromsø in Norway and Murmansk, in Russia’s Arctic.

Hurtigruten recently announced its expansion plans. Not only will five different ships continue offering Svalbard expeditions; the new hybrid vessel MS Roald Amundsen will sail the Northwest Passage, 100 years after the Norwegian polar explorer sailed it as the first person ever with the vessel Gjøa.

MS Roald Amundsen is one of two hybrid expedition vessels being built for Norwegian adventure company Hurtigruten. (Illustration courtesy of Hurtigruten)
MS Roald Amundsen is one of two hybrid expedition vessels being built for Norwegian adventure company Hurtigruten. (Illustration courtesy of Hurtigruten)

That voyage is expected to take three weeks and will take passengers from Greenland via the Northwest Passage to Nome, Alaska and the Pacific Ocean.

Hurtigruten will also start offering expedition cruises between Tromsø and Murmansk, including a visit to Franz Joseph Land.

“We will be the first operator in the world to pass through the Northwest Passage using hybrid-fuel vessels. Both we at Hurtigruten and our guests are concerned with preserving the areas that we explore,” says Managing Director Daniel Skjeldam of Hurtigruten.