MS ''Otto Sverdrup'' (call sign LDBE), formerly known as MS ''Finnmarken'', is a Norwegian coastal ship owned and operated by Hurtigruten ASA. It was built in 2002 at Kværner Kleven, Ulsteinvik, Norway, and cost around 750 million Norwegian Kroner (nok). It was part of the Hurtigruten coastal route from 2002 to 2009. In 2010 it was leased as a hotel ship in Australia. The ship returned to Norway in 2012 and is now a part of the coastal route travelling between

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

and

Kirkenes Kirkenes (; ; Skolt Sami: ''Ǩeârkknjargg;'' fi, Kirkkoniemi; ; russian: Киркенес) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Sør-Varanger Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, in the far northeastern part of Norway. The town ...

. MS ''Finnmarken'' is the third Hurtigruten ship with this name. Previous ships were DS ''Finmarken'' from 1912 and MS ''Finnmarken'' from 1956, which is currently part of the Hurtigruten museum in

Stokmarknes is a town and the administrative centre of Hadsel Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located on the northern coast of the island of Hadseløya and on the small, neighboring island of Børøya. In 2000, Stokmarknes received " town sta ...

, Norway.

Design and description

''Finnmarken'' has a

gross tonnage Gross tonnage (GT, G.T. or gt) is a nonlinear measure of a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage. Neither gross tonnage nor gross register tonnage should be confused with measures of mass or weigh ...

(GT) of 15,690 tons, , and . Loading and unloading is done with truck through a large side port on the port side. It has a car capacity of 47, 628 beds that can accommodate up to 1,000 passengers, and a top speed of . The ship's main engines are four-stroke

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

s made by

Wärtsilä Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include technol ...

. The engines are paired two by two. Anterior engines are 9 cylinder W9L32 with each, and the rear are 6 cylinder W6L32 with each. The stated overall performance is . The propulsion system is geared so that it can run in five different operating modes with both diesel-electric and conventional mechanical transmission. This allows one main engine to drive both propellers simultaneously. In addition, ''Finnmarken'' has two Brunvoll FU 80 LTC 2250 thrusters at the bow and a submersible Ulstein kompassthruster (azimuth pod) in the stern. Electrical power is produced by two 2500 kVA shaft generators, and a Mitsubishi S6A3-MTPA diesel emergency generator. It has 224 ordinary cabins, 18 mini-suites, and 14 suites. The ship has eight decks that include hairdresser, internet café, solarium, fitness centre (deck 8), two bars, a library, four conference rooms, a restaurant (deck 4), two whirlpools, and a swimming pool behind the chimney (deck 7). Since 2005, both ''Finnmarken'' and have been considered for

hospital ship A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones. ...

s in the event of a war. The vessel is self-sufficient in terms of water and electricity, and waste management happens on board, which means that the ship can be at sea for long periods of time. With ten days' notice, the ship should be operational as floating field hospitals. The car deck should be made to hospitals, and will house 70 doctors and nurses. As a hospital ship, ''Finnmarken'' could accommodate 200 beds in case of war, crisis or disaster, nationally or internationally.

History

Plans for a new ship began in 1999. OVDS signed a construction contract with Kleven shipyard in

Ulsteinvik is a town in the municipality of Ulstein, Møre og Romsdal, Norway. The town is the commercial and administrative centre of Ulstein and as such, Ulsteinvik contains 74% of the municipality's population. The town has a population (2018) of 5,788 ...

with an option for two sister ships. Kleven had also built Hurtiguten's and . The ship was launched on 15 September 2001. On 4 April 2002 the ship was christened by Transportation Minister

Torild Skogsholm Torhild Skogsholm (born 18 October 1959, in Bodø) is a Norwegian politician (Liberal Party).Torild Skogsholm
in Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

, the

Hebrides The Hebrides (; gd, Innse Gall, ; non, Suðreyjar, "southern isles") are an archipelago off the west coast of the Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner and Outer Hebrid ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, and

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

. ''Finnmarken'' began its regular route along the Norwegian coast on 20 April 2002. During a storm on the night of 13 November 2004, ''Finnmarken'' suffered damage to an emergency exit hatch as a result of breakers. The ship began to take on water and the captain made the decision to return to Ålesund where the ship was repaired and continued on its way a day later. The ship was leased for use as a

hotel ship A hotelship is a passenger ship which is used for a short period as a hotel. A botel or boatel is a boat that serves as a hotel or hostel. Currently there are few permanent hotel ships. The word is a portmanteau of boat and hotel. Botels may ra ...

in connection with the development of the Greater Gorgon gas fields in Western Australia. The contract was for 18 months with the option of extending the lease for an additional 18 months, and was worth 135 million

AUD The Australian dollar ( sign: $; code: AUD) is the currency of Australia, including its external territories: Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island. It is officially used as currency by three independent Pacific Isla ...

. While in Australia the ship was painted all white and the car decks were converted into laundries and changing rooms. ''Finnmarken''s return to Norway replaced MS ''Nordstjernen'' (built 1956). Before the ship returned to Norway, it was sent to Singapore in order to repaint and restore the ship to Norwegian standards. ''Finnmarken'' returned to Norway 16 February 2012 and began the regular route between Bergen and Kirkenes. During the first few months of 2020, the ship underwent a US$35 million renovation and was renamed MS ''Otto Sverdrup''.

References

External links

Hurtigruten ASA Official homepage - MS ''Finnmarken''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Otto Sverdrup, MS Merchant ships of Norway Dormitory ships Hurtigruten Passenger ships of Norway Ships built in Ulstein 2001 ships