An award-winning company known for its energy-efficiency commitments, Fjord Line has experienced rapid expansion of its passenger and cargo business in recent years.
PROPELLING ENERGY EFFICIENT SHIPPING
Providing transport between Norway and the rest of Europe with emphasis on energy efficiency is Fjord Line’s primary aim. Listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange, Fjord Line has been expanding rapidly over the past few years due to additional tonnage and expansion of services for both passengers and cargo carriers.
With roots tracing back to 1993, Fjord Line has today around 600 employees, 175 of which work on land across Norway and 425 at sea year-round. In addition to passenger traffic, Fjord Line carries all types of commercial vehicles and freight via its container ships. These are handled by Fjord Line’s cargo departments in Norway and Denmark.
As a modern shipping company that offers safe and comfortable transport, Fjord Line is keen to fuel its vessels using alternative sources of energy including LNG fuels going forward.
NEW MANAGEMENT
The company entered 2015 with a new Chief Executive at the helm, Rickard Ternblom, who has taken over from Ingvald Fardal. Since 2007, Fardal led the company through a period of rapid growth and fleet modernisation, going to great lengths to create the market’s two most modern and environmentally-friendly cruise ferries, as well as opening new lines.
Current CEO Ternblom hopes that his personal experience at sea combined with long term involvement in management and administration for this industry will form a “good foundation that will ensure the company has a profitable level of passengers and freight on Fjord Line’s four lines between Norway and the European Union”.
The board of directors believe Ternblom has the right qualifications and skills needed to lead the company into a new and important phase of development that will focus on consolidation and making operations even more efficient.
LNG IS THE WAY FORWARD
In July 2013, the first of two new and environmentally-friendly cruise ferries, MS Stavangerfjord became operational, swiftly followed by the launch of its sister ship MS Bergensfjord in March 2014. Servicing the routes between Bergen, Stavanger and Hirtshals, and between Hirtshals and Langesund, the fleet operates daily departures throughout the year. These ships marked the beginning of a new chapter for Fjord Line and for the first time, the company was able to offer transport between Norway and Denmark to travellers from Eastern Norway.
MS Stavangerfjord and MS Bergensfjord are the first and largest cruise ferries in the world to use “single fuelled LNG engines”. This means the ships are powered exclusively by liquefied natural gas (LNG).
As a consequence of this environmental initiative, Fjord Line is at the forefront of new and more stringent emissions regulations, which the company says will be welcomed along the coast and in the four ports served by its cruise ferries.
SAILING INTO NEW WATERS
In the last decade, Fjord Line has gone from being the smallest cruise ferry company in Norway to being the second largest. The company has witnessed significant growth and has taken steps to ensure long-term financing of the business and to strengthen its competitiveness. Dedicated to providing a high quality experience for both the passenger and cargo sectors, Ternblom will lead Fjord Line into a new and exciting era, with further new vessels due to be commissioned in the near future that embrace LNG as a green fuel source.
