Oslo (Norway)

Oslo (port locode NOOSL) is Norway's largest seaport (located on Aker River / at Oslofjord ’s entrance) and also the country's capital and largest city with population around 670,000 (metro around 1,59 million).

The city is Norway's governmental and economic center, and also serves as country's main hub of commerce, banking, shipping trade, maritime industries. Here are headquartered nearly 2000 large companies within the maritime sector. Some of these are the world's largest shipbrokers, insurance brokers, passenger and cargo shipping companies. The city also houses numerous cultural facilities, historical buildings, museums, art galleries, recreational parks (Frogner, Bygdoy, Ekebergparken, St Hanshaugen, Toyen), annual festivals.

The metro area contributes around 1/4 of Norway's GDP and generates over 1/4 of country's tax revenues. In 2018, Oslo City was ranked 5th in the list of world's top 10 most expensive cities - following Singapore, Paris, Zurich, Hong Kong, and followed by Geneva, Seoul (Port Incheon), Copenhagen, Tel Aviv (Port Haifa) and Sydney NSW.

Oslo Airport is an international airport connecting the city to 26 domestic and 151 international airports. In 2017, the airport served over 27 million passengers, ranking it Scandinavia's 2nd-busiest (after Copenhagen) and Europe's 19th-busiest. The airport is located in Gardermoen - approx 35 km (22 mi) northeast of downtown. It is connected to downtown via Gardermoen Line (high-speed trains). The city is also served by Torp Airport (Sandefjord), located approx 119 km (74 mi) to the south of downtown.

Port Oslo

The seaport is Norway's principal (and largest) cargo and ferry port, handling weekly between 50-70 ship calls. Around 1/2 of country's population lives less than 3-hour drive from the seaport, which is located at short distance to city's main railway and road connections.

Oslo Port is the main contributor to the city's economy, being ranked as Norway's largest general cargo and containership port, as well as the country's main passenger shipping (ferry) gateway. The seaport handles annually around 6000 vessels, with total cargo volume around 6 million tons and passenger shipping volume nearly 7 million. The port authority company is "Port of Oslo KF".

At its modern terminals, the port can handle all types of cargo ships with draft up to 11 m (36 ft) as max quay water depth. The seaport has total land area 1,26 km2 (0,5 mi2) and total quay length 9922 m (32550 ft). Pilotage (pilot assistance) is mandatory for all vessels.

Currently, the Port handles 3 daily ferry arrivals with all 21 weekly crossings between Norway and Denmark (Copenhagen, Frederikshavn) and Germany (Kiel). Regularly scheduled cruiseferries connect Oslo with Kiel (Color Line, 7 weekly crossings, travel time 20 hours), with Copenhagen (DFDS Seaways, 7 weekly crossings, time 17 hours) and with Frederikshavn (Stena Line, 7 weekly crossings, time 9 hours).

For FY2018 (fiscal year), Port Oslo reported a record volume of TEU-containers (238,000, or 14% increase over 2017) handled at YILPort Oslo terminal - Norway's newest and most modern. Half of the country's population lives within a 3-hours drive from the seaport, and ~80% of all containerized goods enter Norway through Oslo.

Officially inaugurated on January 8, 2019, Port Oslo now offers shoreside power supply to berthed vessels. The first ship that received shore-to-ship power was Stena Saga (Ro-Pax/ferry). The technology allows docked vessels to shut down their diesel engines and plug into the city's electricity grid (via pierside electrical hookups), thus reducing bad emissions by up to 95%. The expected annual diesel fuel savings are 1400+ tons - the annual CO2 emissions equivalent of 1300 cars.

In May 2023, Zinus Power (supplier of shore power products and solutions) won a contract with powerCON (Neutrik-owned electrical connector) to supply Port Oslo's CRU500 (portable cable management system). Since the project was completed (September 2024), the Port has the capacity to supply electricity to all berthed vessels.

Oslo cruise port

Oslo is one of the Hurtigruten ports along the "Express Route" (Norwegian Coastal Express). This is a regularly scheduled ferry and cruise itinerary in Norway, between the turnaround ports Bergen (southmost) and Kirkenes (northmost).

In 2011 (the Port's record year) were handled 170 ship calls and 312,000 passengers. In 2013, the cruise port handled over 300,000 passengers from 146 different nations. Cruises to Oslo are divided in two main types of itineraries - Baltic Sea and Norwegian Fjords.

In 2017, the port had scheduled a total of 102 ship calls (compared to 81 calls in 2016) and handled around 155,000 passengers. In 2017, most berth bookings were made by AIDA Cruises (22 calls) and TUI Cruises (8 calls).

Oslo cruise terminal