By
Alex Smith |
Hurtigruten Expeditions is to officially name battery-hybrid powered cruise ship Fridtjof Nansen in a ceremony on 14 September at Longyearbyen in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago.
The event will be the northernmost naming ceremony ever to be held for a passenger ship and will also mark 125 years since Hurtigruten began sailing its first expedition cruises from mainland Norway to Svalbard in 1896.
“When looking for a location for the naming of Fridtjof Nansen, we couldn’t think of a better place than Svalbard,” said Asta Lassesen, CEO of Hurtigruten Expeditions. “When we embark on our Svalbard expeditions, we combine our 125 years of experience with our year-round, land-based presence, creating jobs and value for the local community that lasts way beyond our cruise calls.”
The new vessel is named after polar explorer and humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen, who led the first expedition to ski across Greenland in 1888 and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with refugees following World War One.
“By naming this groundbreaking expedition ship after Fridtjof Nansen on Svalbard, we wish to pay tribute to him by virtue of his achievements both as an explorer and a humanitarian,” said Lassesen. “At the same time, we aim to honour the importance of Svalbard in Arctic exploration and tourism, not only in the past, but today.”
Fridtjof Nansen will be named by breaking a chunk of ice against her hull, just as her sister ship Roald Amundsen was in 2019. The ceremony will be live-streamed for viewers.