Norwegian America Line

Norwegian American Line
Industry	Cargo and passenger shipping
Fate	Defunct
Founded	1910
Defunct	1995
Headquarters	Oslo
Key people	Gustav Henriksen
Subsidiaries	Norwegian East Africa Line

The Norwegian America Line (Norwegian: Den Norske Amerikalinje), was a cruise ship line, originally an operator of passenger and cargo ships. Founded in 1910, the company ran a regular transatlantic service between Norway and the United States, and later included a route to East Africa as well. Primarily due to competition from air travel, transatlantic passenger voyages were slowly discontinued during the years.

Passenger's car being loaded onto the MS Skiensfjord in New York in 1962

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 cruise ships were handed over into a new joint venture company (Norwegian American Cruises) with Leif Höegh & Co, and finally sold to Cunard Line in 1984.

During the 1990s NAL main business were the Roll-on/roll-off 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 in 1995.[1]

Ships

List sourced from[2][3]

Passenger ships

Ship	Built	In service for NAL	Type	Tonnage	Notes
SS Kristianiafjord	1913	1913–17	ocean liner	10,699 GRT	Sunk 1917.
SS Bergensfjord	1913	1913–40	ocean liner	10,666 GRT	Taken over by British authorities and converted to a troopship, 1940.
SS Stavangerfjord	1917	1917–40 1945–64	ocean liner	12,977 GRT	Taken over by German authorities as a troopship in 1940, returned to NAL in 1945. Scrapped 1964.
MS Oslofjord (1938)	1938	1938–40	ocean liner	18,673 GRT	Sunk after hitting a mine on the River Tyne, 1940.
MS Oslofjord (1949)	1949	1949–67	ocean liner	16,844 GRT	Chartered to Greek Line 1967. Caught fire and sank 1970.
SS Bergensfjord	1956	1956–71	ocean liner	18,739 GRT	Sold to French Line as De Grasse, 1971.
MS Skiensfjord	1958	1958–77	frieghter, few passengers	3,787 GRT	Sold to Southalnd Maritime Inc. v/Diamantides Maritime Co. Ltd, Pireus, Greece 1977 and renamned Diamant. Sold to Jebel Ali National Marine, Dubai, UAE 1980 and renamed Jebel Ali 2. Sold to Mohammed Khalifa Bin Salama Al-Hamaly, Dubai, UAE 1983 and renamed Salamah 5. Renamed Al Qasim 1987 & scrapped that year.[4]
MS Sagafjord	1965	1965–83	ocean liner / cruise ship	24,002 GRT	Sold to Cunard Line 1983. Sold to Saga Cruises 1997 and renamed Saga Rose. Scrapped 2009.
MS Vistafjord	1973	1973–83	cruise ship	24,292 GRT	Sold to Cunard Line 1983. Since 2004 Saga Ruby for Saga. Scrapped 2017.

Other ships

Ship	Built	In service for NAL	Type	Tonnage	Notes
SS Trondhjemsfjord	1911	1914–15	ocean liner	4,248 GRT	Sunk 28 July 1915 by torpedo.
SS Norefjord	1919	1921–49	cargo ship	3,082 GRT	Ran aground, captured and beached by rebels, shelled by the Indonesian Navy and burnt out 1958. Scrapped 1966.
SS Foldenfjord	1921	1921–28	tanker ship	7,038 GRT	Sunk by Japanese submarine I-25 on October 5, 1942.
SS Mari SS Oslofjord	1923	1923 1923–30		215 GRT

Managing directors

Chairmen of the Board

1929–39 Sigval Bergesen
1940–48 Thor Thoresen
1948–?? Leif Høegh

Boutique hotel

The former headquarters is now a 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.[5]

References

"The Allen Collection|Norway America Line". www.benjidog.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
Asklander, Micke. "Norska Amerikalinje A/S". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 2012-07-29. Retrieved 2008-02-29.
"Norwegian-America Line". The Ships List. Archived from the original on 2008-03-03. Retrieved 2008-02-29.
"M/S Skiensfjord - Sjøhistorie.no". www.sjohistorie.no. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
"Amerikalinjen - Latest boutique hotel in Oslo, Norway". Amerikalinjen. Retrieved 2019-06-05.

External links

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[1] "The Allen Collection|Norway America Line". www.benjidog.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-06-05.

[2] Asklander, Micke. "Norska Amerikalinje A/S". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 2012-07-29. Retrieved 2008-02-29.

[3] "Norwegian-America Line". The Ships List. Archived from the original on 2008-03-03. Retrieved 2008-02-29.

[4] "M/S Skiensfjord - Sjøhistorie.no". www.sjohistorie.no. Retrieved 2019-06-05.

[5] "Amerikalinjen - Latest boutique hotel in Oslo, Norway". Amerikalinjen. Retrieved 2019-06-05.