Fjord1 ASA is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, an ...

conglomerate, one of the largest in the

sector. Formed in 2001, company headquarters are in

Florø is a town and the administrative centre of the municipality of Kinn, Vestland, Norway. The town was founded by royal decree in 1860 as a ladested on the island of Florelandet, located between the Botnafjorden and Solheimsfjorden. Florø is N ...

, with the headquarters of the

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

division in

Molde Molde () is a town and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Peninsula, surrounding the Fannefjord and Moldefjord. The administrative centre of the m ...

. 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. I ...

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 and ...

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

Sogn og Fjordane Sogn og Fjordane (; English: "Sogn and Fjordane") was, up to 1 January 2020, a county in western Norway, when it was merged to become part of Vestland county. Bordering previous counties Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, Buskerud, and Hordaland, the cou ...

made the merger unpopular in

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

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 ASA 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

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 and ...

, which serve the rugged and numerous fjords of

and

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, where t ...

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

Aukra Auto Aukra Auto is a bus and truck operating company based in Aukra, Norway. The company has a monopoly on bus transport on the island Gossen and between it and Molde. The largest owner of the company is Nettbuss (66%). Their Aerobus transports peopl ...

, 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 branc ...

(operates an express boat route from

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

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

) 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 ( no, Bybanen) 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, where the first 15 stations comprising a stretch opened i ...

. It owned four local bus companies, including

Fjord1 Buss Møre Fjord1 ASA 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 environmental ...

Fjord1 Sogn Billag Fjord1 ASA 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 environmental ...

, Hallingdal Billag and

Fjord1 Nordfjord-Ottadalen Fjord1 ASA 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 environmental ...

. 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 conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...

and the

Bellona Foundation The Bellona Foundation is an international environmental Non-governmental organization, NGO headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with branches in Europe and North America. Founded in 1986 by Frederic Hauge and Rune Haaland as a direct action protest gr ...

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 mun ...

Lote Lote may refer to: Places *Lote, Norway, a village in Eid municipality, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway *Lote, India, an area in the Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra People * Denis Kiwanuka Lote (1938–2022), Ugandan Roman Catholic prelate, Archbishop ...

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 vehilcles 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 Sogn og Fjordane 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