MS ''Nordkapp'' is a

Hurtigruten ''Hurtigruten'' (), formally Kystruten Bergen-Kirkenes ("coastal route Bergen-Kirkenes"), is a Norwegian public coastal route transporting passengers that travel locally, regionally, and between the ports of call, and also cargo between ports ...

ship built in 1996 by Kleven Verft AS,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, for

Ofotens og Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab Ofotens og Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab or OVDS was a Norwegian shipping company that operated ferries in Northern Norway, including the Coastal Express, car ferries and passenger ferries. The company merged with Troms Fylkes Dampskibsselska ...

for use in

ferry service along the coast of Norway. She is a sister ship of MS ''Polarlys'' and . ''Nordkapp'' is one of 11 ships that travel the Norwegian coast from

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

Kirkenes (Norwegian language, Norwegian; ), (Northern Sami language, Northern Sami; , or is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Finnmark county, in the far northeastern part of Norway. The town lies on a peninsu ...

. MS ''Nordkapp'' (North Cape) is named after the North Cape on the island of

Magerøya or is a large island in Finnmark county, in the extreme northern part of Norway. The island lies along the Barents Sea in Nordkapp Municipality, just north of the Porsanger Peninsula. The mouth of Porsangerfjorden lies off the east coast of t ...

in Northern Norway.

Characteristics

The ship has a speed of 15 knots, is 123.3 meters (404.5 feet), and weights about 11,386 gross tons. The ship has seven decks: *Decks 2–3, 5–6 are passenger cabins. *Deck 4 contains the restaurant, a lounge, a small library, two conference rooms, and a café open 24-hours. *Deck 7 features a bar/lounge and a panorama lounge. *Deck 1 is crew quarters and is off limits to passenger guests. Passengers can access outside decks for lounging or viewing the scenery. These can be found on: *all sides of deck 5, *the stern of deck 6, and *from the sundeck and panorama lounge in the bow and stern of deck 7. In addition to standard amenities on the ship, there an exercise room, a sauna and a children's play room/ball room. There are 481 beds and has a passenger capacity of 691 persons. There are a combination of interior and exterior cabins of varying sizes and passenger capacities. There are also a small selection of suites available. Each standard cabin (non-suite) is equipped with either two or three single beds (not movable) and a private washroom with shower, sink, and toilet. Suite cabins have a small lounge area with a table, sofa, and chair. They also feature a double or queen-sized bed, a TV, a desk, and a

minibar A minibar is a small refrigerator, typically an absorption refrigerator, in a hotel room or cruise ship stateroom. The hotel staff fill it with drinks and snacks for the guest to purchase during their stay. It is stocked with a precise inventor ...

. The boat can also take 45 cars on its car deck.

History of MS ''Nordkapp''

The Ofotens and Vesteraalens steamship company commissioned a new ship which was to be built at the Kværner Kleven shipyard in

Ulsteinvik is a town in Ulstein Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The town is the commercial and administrative centre of the municipality and as such, Ulsteinvik contains 74% of the municipal population. The town has a population (2024) ...

. It was christened on 23 March 1996 by

Queen Sonja of Norway Sonja (born Sonja Haraldsen; 4 July 1937) is Queen of Norway as the wife of King Harald V. Sonja and the then Crown Prince Harald had dated for nine years prior to their marriage in 1968. They had kept their relationship a secret due to the ...

in a double ceremony with , which was built at a neighbouring shipyard.MS Nordkapp Info rl=http://www.skipsmagasinet.no/hurtigruteneinfo/alle-skip/ms-nordkapp-jwpe3-nornis/"MS Nordkapp Ship History", ''Hurtigruten Info'' Retrieved on 9 August 2012. On February 18, 1997, MS ''Nordkapp'' travelled to

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 ...

to work as a hotel ship during the

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1997 The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1997 took place from February 21 to March 2 at Granåsen Ski Centre in Trondheim, Norway. This event was the first time in consecutive championships that the number or type of events did not change since 1966 ...

On 29 November 2001 at 7:40pm the ship suffered a total engine failure on both main engines outside

Henningsvær Henningsvær is a fishing village in Vågan Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located on several small islands off the southern coast of the large island of Austvågøya in the Lofoten archipelago. The village is located about sout ...

Lofoten Lofoten ( , ; ; ) is an archipelago and a Districts of Norway, traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches, and untouched lands. T ...

. The ship dropped both anchors to avoid running aground while the evacuation was prepared, but after 2 hours the engineers managed to start the engine and the ship returned to Bodø, Norway. In 2005, MS ''Nordkapp'' was taken out the Norwegian coastal route and put into service in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

before cruising

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. In 2005 and 2006, ''Nordkapp'' would sail the western coast of Norway during spring, summer, and part of fall before returning to sail the Chile/Antarctica route in the winter (summer in southern hemisphere). In May 2007, MS ''Nordkapp'' returned full-time to Norway's coastal route. In January 2007, the vessel ran aground off

Deception Island Deception Island is in the South Shetland Islands close to the Antarctic Peninsula with a large and usually "safe" natural harbour, which is occasionally affected by the underlying active volcano. This island is the caldera of an active volc ...

, part of the

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands, Antarctic islands located in the Drake Passage with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the n ...

, without reported injuries.

References

External links

Hurtigruten official website for MS Nordkapp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nordkapp Cruise ships Maritime incidents in 2007 Passenger ships of Norway Ships built in Ulstein 1995 ships Hurtigruten