Trollfjord in Ålesund, 2 October 2017

Since I will be heading back to the lovely Norwegian town of Ålesund soon (unfortunately only passing through en-route elsewhere), I thought this week would be a fine time to post some previously unreleased ship photos taken there.

Trollfjord

IMO 9233258
Built 2002, Bruce Shipyard Landskrona, Sweden (hull) / Fosen Mek. Verksted Rissa, Norway (outfitting)
Tonnage 16 140 GT
Length 135,75 m
Width 21,50 m
Draft 4,90 m
822 passengers
636 berths
35 cars
2 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 8 280 kW
2 Aquamaster azimuthing propellers
3 bow thrusters
Speed 18 knots

The Trollfjord was the second of Hurtigruten's so-called "Millennium ships" (albeit the first in the series, the Finnmarken delivered earlier in the same, was of a completely different design). It was ordered in June 2000 by the Troms Fylkes Dampskibsselskap (TFDS) from the Fosen shipyard in Rissa, Norway, although the hull construction was subcontracted to the Bruce Shipyard in Sweden. The ship's exterior, quite different from the previous newbuildings in the Hurtigruten fleet, was by Falkum-Hansen Design, who also designed the interiors and the general arrangement plan. The Trollfjord was delivered May 2002, delayed by some six weeks. After the first summer season, the ship returned to its builders for the installation of a third bow thruster unit.

In 2006 the Trollfjord lost its original attractive TFDS funnel colours (a broad white stripe flanked by two anrrow red ones on a black background) when TFDS and the other Hurtigruten partner Ofotens og Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskap merged to form Hurtigruten ASA. This did not have an effect on the ship's operations, of course. As is perhaps inevitable on such a hectic schedule, the ship has experienced the occasional accident, such as minor groundings and collisions, but none have been severe. At the time of writing, the ship remains in the Norwegian coastal service, but when Hurtigruten loses a part of the state-subvented service to the newcomer Havila Kystruten in 2021 the Trollfjord is, to my understand, one of the ships slated to ne moved to be a full-time cruise ship.

The photos below show the Trollfjord moored at Ålesund during the post-midnight call in the port on the route southbound from Kirkenes to Bergen on 2 October 2017. As per the usual, click on the images to see them in larger size.

I did take some photos of the ship at sea, too, but the lighting conditions were such that none of them turned out too good. It would be interesting to try something similar around midsummer...

Contemporary Norwegian architecture, ship and buildings all.

A bit more unusual view, but one I very much like.

As always, Kships will return.