Skjersholmane–Valevåg Ferry was an

automobile ferry 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 ...

which connected the island of

Stord Stord is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sunnhordland. Stord is sometimes called "Norway in miniature" since it has such a variety of landscapes: coastline, fjords, forests, agricultural ...

to the mainland in

Sveio Sveio is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. Sveio is a border district that is sometimes considered to be located in the traditional district of Haugalandet since it is located on the Haugalandet peninsula, but it is also considered to ...

. The route was operated by

Hardanger Sunnhordlandske Dampskipsselskap Hardanger Sunnhordlandske Dampskipsselskap (HSD), founded in 1880, was one of Norway's largest privately held public transportation providers. Its bus operation HSD Buss AS was founded in 1999, and serviced 15 million passengers annually in large ...

(HSD) and ran between Skjersholmane on Stord to

Valevåg Valevåg is a village in Sveio municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located on the northern end of the Sveio peninsula, along the southern shore of the Hardangerfjorden. Historically, Valevåg was the administrative centre of ...

on the mainland as part of

European Route E39 European route E39 is the designation of a north–south road in Norway and Denmark from Klett, just south of Trondheim, to Aalborg via Bergen, Stavanger and Kristiansand. In total, there are nine ferries, more than any other single road in ...

.Hauge (2001): 129 In 2000 the ferry transported 480,103 vehicles and 1,069,446 passengers.Hauge (2001): 131 Ferry traffic between Stord and the mainland was started with the ferry ''Hildur'', originally on the route from

Leirvik Leirvik is a town and the administrative centre of Stord municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The town lies along the southern coast of the large island of Stord, along the Hardangerfjorden. The town gained "town status" in 1997. The town ...

via

Mosterhamn Mosterhamn or simply Moster is a village in Bømlo municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located on the small island of Moster in the southeastern part of the municipality of Bømlo. The village lies along the Bømlafjorden. Th ...

Bømlo Bømlo is a municipality in the southwestern part of Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sunnhordland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Svortland. Other villages in Bømlo inclu ...

. The route was started by Nils Hollekim in 1940, but was taken over by HSD and the ferry ''Tysnes'' in 1947. Responsibility for the route was taken over by the

Norwegian Public Roads Administration The Norwegian Public Roads Administration ( no, Statens vegvesen) is a Norwegian government agency responsible for national and county public roads in Norway. This includes planning, construction and operation of the national and county road netw ...

in the 1970s, which included the construction of new quays. This route continued to run to the port in Leirvik, but in 1983 it was moved to Skjersholmane where a twin-berth quay was built. As it was part of the main E39 road, it had a 30-minute

headway Headway is the distance or duration between vehicles in a transit system measured in space or time. The ''minimum headway'' is the shortest such distance or time achievable by a system without a reduction in the speed of vehicles. The precise defi ...

during most of the day. The last two ferries to operate the route were MF ''Bjørnefjord'' and MF ''Hordaland'', the largest which could take 140 cars on two decks and 500 passengers. The route was terminated from 27 December 2000, when the

Bømlafjord Tunnel The Bømlafjord Tunnel ( no, Bømlafjordtunnelen) is a subsea road tunnel under Bømlafjorden which connects the island of Føyno in Stord Municipality to the mainland at Dalshovda in Sveio Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The tunnel ...

, part of the

Triangle Link The Triangle Link ( no, Trekantsambandet) is a fixed link with three branches that connects the islands of Stord and Bømlo to each other and to the mainland at Sveio, Norway. It consists of the underwater Bømlafjord Tunnel from Sveio to th ...

, opened. In 2007, the ferry was temporarily reinstated as a free ferry service due to maintenance works in the

References

;Bibliography * ;Notes {{DEFAULTSORT:Skjersholmane-Valevag Ferry Car ferry lines in Vestland Stord Sveio European route E39 in Norway