Safety is the number one priority

(Picture borrowed from
Hurtigruten.)

Last fall Hurtigruten was struck by a tragic accident. A fire broke out in the engine room of the MS Nordlys and although all passengers were safe, two crew members lost their life. 

In the beginning of January this year, the huge cruise ship Costa Concordia of Costa Cruises struck a rock, started to take in water and eventually sank near the coast of Western Italy. Just this week, a new incident happened on a Costa ship. A fire destroyed the ships electrical power, and the ship is now beeing towed for several days to a safe harbour. 

It would be natural for potential guests to be sceptic to order a cruise after these accidents. You should know that Hurtigruten is working continously on improving safety, and is currently conducting a "Safe sailing project" where focus among other things are on

• Identifying risk areas and ports (see illustration above)

• Defining «tracks» and routes

• Training

• Modus operandi on Captains bridge

• Identifying most important indicators for possible risk sources

• Safety drills with rescue teams along the Norwegian coast

Unfortunately, sometimes accidents happen. All passengers should take the time to read safety placards, and to pay attention during safety drills. In this way, passengers will know where to gather in an emergency, and how to put on the safety vest. Knowing what to do, will keep panic at bay. Here you can check out the safety videos of MS Nordlys, MS Midnatsol, MS Richard With, MS Polarlys, MS Vesterålen and MS Finnmarken. Below you can watch the safety video of Hurtigruten's MS Trollfjord. You're safe with Hurtigruten!