Hurtigruten's smallest cruise ship MS Lofoten was sold and will be transferred to a Norwegian maritime academy to serve as a training ship (hotel ship for students).
After 56 years of service for Hurtigruten (cruising the Norwegian coast), MS Lofoten will leave the fleet and starting in 2021 the vessel will welcome cadets instead of travelers. The cruise company has signed an LoI (letter of intent) with the Norwegian educational foundation Maritim videregaende Skole Sorlandet (Maritime High School) for the sale of the vessel.
For the 1927-founded Sorlandet’s Maritime High School MS Lofoten is the 5th training ship. The 150-passenger boat is expected to welcome her first students in August 2021.
Aside from expeditions to the British Isles, Svalbard Archipelago and other Norwegian destinations, MS Lofoten has primarily been deployed on the Hurtigruten’s Bergen-Kirkenes-Bergen route (regularly scheduled car and passenger ferry service) traversing the full length of Norway's northern and western coasts.
Over the past 56 years, MS Lofoten has traversed a cumulative distance of ~5 million miles. Her original main engine has accumulated nearly 330,000 running hours which is more than any other marine diesel in the world.
In case the pandemic allows, the Hurtigruten company aims to schedule a farewell cruise for Lofoten along the Norwegian coast during the spring of 2021.