The Norwegian America Line ( no, Den Norske Amerikalinje), was a shipping line, originally an operator of ocean liners and cargo

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

s. Founded in 1910, the company ran a regular

transatlantic Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film), ...

service between

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and later included a route to

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

as well. Primarily due to competition from air travel, transatlantic passenger voyages were slowly discontinued during the years. After the Great War, the company was one of Norway’s largest shipping lines, owning a fleet that included 19 vessels, several of which were for commercial cargo transport. After the Second World War heavy ships losses were overcome by the building of new vessels, however the reduction in the passengers’ traffic by sea shifted the company’s focus mainly to the cargo business, including container and bulk shipping from the 1970s. In 1980 the last two passenger liners were handed over into a new joint venture company (Norwegian American Cruises) with Leif Höegh & Co, and finally sold to

Cunard Line Cunard () is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Berm ...

in 1984. During the 1990s NAL main business were the

Roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...

operations and sea carriage of cars, through the NOSAC brand (Norwegian Specialised Autocarcarriers), with a fleet of nearly 20 vessels, then acquired by

Wilh. Wilhelmsen Wilh. Wilhelmsen Holding ASA (WWH) is a Norwegian multinational maritime industry, maritime group, headquartered in Lysaker, Norway. The group employs more than 21,000 people and has operations in 75 nations. The Wilhelmsen group operates the la ...

in 1995.

Ships

List sourced from

Passenger ships

Other ships

Managing directors

*1911–39

Gustav Henriksen Gustav Severin Henriksen (25 October 1872 – 8 October 1939) was a Norwegian Shipping Executive. Biography Henriksen was born at Tune (now Sarpsborg) in Østfold, Norway. He was the son of Christian Henriksen (1829-1886) and Marthe Nielsen ( ...

*1939–48 Andreas Johnsen *1948–73 Hans Christian Henriksen

Chairmen of the Board

* 1929–39 Sigval Bergesen * 1940–48

Thor Thoresen Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, and ...

* 1948–?? Leif Høegh

Boutique hotel

The former headquarters of the shipping company (1919 – 1983) with ticket office and administration is still an iconic building in central Oslo. It was rebuilt inside and opened in March 2019 as a boutique hotel. The hotel took the name ''Amerikalinjen''.

References

External links

The Ships List: Norwegian America Line

Norway Heritage — "Hands across the sea"

GG Archives

GG Archives {{Authority control Defunct cruise lines Defunct shipping companies of Norway Transatlantic shipping companies Transport companies established in 1910 Transport companies disestablished in 1995 1995 disestablishments in Norway Norwegian companies established in 1910