Fjord1 AS is a Norwegian

transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

conglomerate, one of the largest in the Norwegian

sector. Formed in 2001, company headquarters are in Florø, with the headquarters of the

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

division in

Molde Molde () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the seat of Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...

. It operates a fleet of environmentally friendly vessels in the Norwegian fjords.

Formation

Nordvestlandske was formed in 2001 by the merger of the county council-owned ferry companies

Møre og Romsdal Fylkesbåtar Fjord1 MRF formerly called Møre og Romsdal Fylkesbåtar, short form MRF is a regional Norwegian transportation company, part of the Fjord1 Nordvestlandske group. The company headquarters are in Molde. MRF is Norway's largest car ferry company. ...

and

Fylkesbaatane i Sogn og Fjordane Fjord1 Fylkesbaatane (formerly known as Fylkesbaatane i Sogn og Fjordane and Nordre Bergenhus Amts Dampskibe) is a Norwegian transport company. It is a subsidiary of the Fjord1 Nordvestlandske conglomerate and primarily runs ferry, passenger an ...

, becoming Fjord1 in December 2002. The fact that the merged company headquarters were located in

Sogn og Fjordane Sogn og Fjordane (; literally "Parish and the Fjords") was a Counties of Norway, county in western Norway, from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, after it was merged to become part of Vestland county. Bordering previous counties Møre og Romsda ...

made the merger unpopular in

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in the northernmost part of Western Norway, Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the Molde (town), town of M ...

county. The choice of name, Fjord1, was also not well-accepted among the local population. These strains on public relations, amongst other things, resulted in talks intended to further the merger process breaking down during the winter and spring of 2004. Fjord1 AS was listed on the main list on the Oslo Stock Exchange on 15 August 2017. In 2021, US investment firm Vision Ridge Partners and Havila Holding, an investment company owned by the Sævik family, privatised the company, with each having 50% ownership.

Operations

The company is one of the largest in the Norwegian

sector. A holding company with numerous subsidiaries, its main assets are the two ferry companies MRF and

Fylkesbaatane Fjord1 Fylkesbaatane (formerly known as Fylkesbaatane i Sogn og Fjordane and Nordre Bergenhus Amts Dampskibe) is a Norwegian transport company. It is a subsidiary of the Fjord1 Nordvestlandske conglomerate and primarily runs ferry, passenger an ...

, which serve the rugged and numerous fjords of

and

Vestland Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and political leadership is based. The County governor (Norway), County Governor is based in ...

counties. The company is involved in numerous transport ventures within its two home counties, including a 66% ownership of the bus company Aukra Auto, a 49% ownership of fast ferry company

Kystekspressen Partsrederiet Kystekspressen ANS branded as Kystekspressen or ''the Coast Express'' is a shipping company that operates passenger ferry services between Trondheim and Kristiansund, Norway. Three ships are used on the route, that includes the bran ...

(operates an express boat route from

Kristiansund Kristiansund (, ; historically spelled Christianssund and earlier named Fosna) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality on the western coast of Norway in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal counties of Norway, county. The admin ...

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

) and a 49% of

Fjord1 Partner Keolis Norge is the Norwegian subsidiary of Keolis, holding the contract to operate the Bergen Light Rail and the Bergen Sentrum bus contract for Skyss. History The company was established in 2008 as ''Fjord1 Partner AS'', a joint venture betwee ...

, that operates the

Bergen Light Rail Bergen Light Rail () is a light rail system in Bergen, Norway. The first stage of the project was a twenty-station stretch between the city center and Lagunen Storsenter, Nesttun, where the first 15 stations comprising a stretch opened in 2010, ...

. It owned four local bus companies, including

Fjord1 Buss Møre Fjord1 AS is a Norway, Norwegian transport conglomerate, one of the largest in the Norway, Norwegian transport sector. Formed in 2001, company headquarters are in Florø, with the headquarters of the ferry division in Molde (town), Molde. It opera ...

Fjord1 Sogn Billag Fjord1 AS is a Norwegian transport conglomerate, one of the largest in the Norwegian transport sector. Formed in 2001, company headquarters are in Florø, with the headquarters of the ferry division in Molde. It operates a fleet of environmenta ...

, Hallingdal Billag and

Fjord1 Nordfjord-Ottadalen Fjord1 AS is a Norwegian transport conglomerate, one of the largest in the Norwegian transport sector. Formed in 2001, company headquarters are in Florø, with the headquarters of the ferry division in Molde. It operates a fleet of environmenta ...

. In 2005, the company had 75 ships, 394 buses and 147 trucks and transported 24 million passengers. A study by

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...

and the Bellona Foundation in 2016 identified that of Norway's 180 ferries on 112 ferry routes, 127 could feasibly be replaced with either fully electric or hybrid ferries. Fjord1 is transitioning to low- and zero-emission technology and introduced two fully electric ferries, and on the E39

Anda Anda or ANDA may refer to: Places China * Anda, Heilongjiang, a city in Heilongjiang, China * Anda railway station, a railway station in Anda, China Iran * Anda, Iran, a village in Fars Province, Iran Norway * Anda, Norway, an island in Øksnes ...

to Lote route in 2018. Between 2017 and 2021, Fjord1 put into service 26 new hybrid-battery ferries and converted a further eight vessels to hybrid-battery propulsion, so they had 34 hybrid battery vessels operating on 17 routes, approximately 43 per cent of its ferries. The 2019 Annual Report records 19.9 Million passengers and 9.9 million vehicles carried. The group also operates in the tourism sector, through Fjord Tours Group (50/50 ownership with Vy-Gruppen) and The Fjords (50/50 ownership with Aurland Ressursutvikling).

References

{{Authority control Shipping companies of Norway Companies based in Vestland Transport companies established in 2001 2001 establishments in Norway Transport companies of Vestland Transport in Møre og Romsdal Kinn Møre og Romsdal County Municipality Sogn og Fjordane County Municipality Companies listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange