Norwegian 'Tide' Ferries

[lmtengs]

Norwegian transportation company 'Tide' runs regional ferry service in Norway, as well as all public transit in the coastal city of Bergen, also Norway's second largest city. Here are some photos of some Tide ships taken on my recent trip to Norway:

One of about 4 identical sisterships built around 2009 approaching the berth in Oslo:


Tideprinsen at Oslo:


Likely the Tideprinsen along with the DFDS Seaways ferry, which runs to Denmark:


Another one of the four sisters, berthed in Oslo:


One of Tide's older vessels, the Huldra, looks like she's had her bow lobbed off to accommodate a ramp for passengers to embark on.


Leaving Oslo for the islands down Oslofjord:


Heading into the traffic jam that is Oslofjord:


One of the sisterships along with the Tidebaronen on the right:


The Tidebaronen again, this time pictured at an outlying island terminal:


On the far left is an older double-ender, then three of the four sisters, and the Huldra on the right.


Two of the sisterships. The tan building in behind is the head office of the Nobel Prize.


The following are taken aboard the Tide Dronningen:




On the upper pax deck:


Deck plans:


-More to come tomorrow and/or the next day, from various Norwegian ferry lines. I'm finally semi-over my photography hangover

[Low Light Mike]

Sept 11, 2011 0:32:32 GMT -8 @lmtengs said:

Thanks Luke for doing this; the educational experience is appreciated.

On the above photo, I'm wondering if the guy in the light-blue sweatshirt is the ship's choir-master, ready to lead the seated passengers in singing.

Or perhaps he likes the movie "Ben Hur" and is waiting for a drum so that he can set the pace for the passengers to pull their oars.

Or perhaps he's guarding the set of stairs, and is ready to charge a toll for people using the stairs.

....and his choice of seats (the middle one) reminds me of the serious rule for men's washrooms: Never use the middle urinal; it's only there for show. All you're doing is forcing someone on the side to be uncomfortably close to you. But he can blame the ship's designers for placing a fixed-table in only the centre spot.

Or perhaps he just likes to be in the fishbowl... ;D

- Norwegians are fun people to study, haha.

[lmtengs]

Moving on to Bergen, we have more pictures of Tide's ferries. These are smaller catamaran vessels, capable of sailing at speeds as fast as 35kn.


A ferry leaving Bergen for Stavanger. It stops at around 6 points in between. One stop lasts around 45 seconds: The ferry nuzzles up against the dock, they extend the bow ramp, passengers disembark and give their fee to the waiting crew member, then the new passengers embark, the ramp folds back, and the ship leaves.

This is a photo of a photo:

Notice that it's a sistership of one of our Victoria Clipper boats, which was actually built in Norway. There are quite a few ships with this design floating around the country.



Ferries resting for the evening.


The Tranen noses up to the dock.


The ramp extends...


And plops down.


Ships that carry mail fly the Norwegian Post flag instead of the normal Norwegian flag.




Aboard the Tranen, looking forward.


Almost makes the evacuation look fun!


A similar ship to the one I'm on while taking the picture.


Looking off the stern.


The ferry dropped us off on the island of Bømlo (a by-request stop), then left.

[lmtengs]

And this brings us to our last Tide Ferries post:


The ferry stopping in Haugesund enroute from Stavanger to Bergen.


The next day, a ferry on the same route stopped in Haugesund waiting to depart for Bergen. In this picture, we can play a fun game of 'Spot Luke's mother's cousin's husband!'

[Nick]

Sept 11, 2011 0:32:32 GMT -8 @lmtengs said:

Deck plans:

I just wanted to point out one of the wonderful things about being an IMO member state (as Canada and Norway both are). For the record, IMO, or International Maritime Organization, is a UN special agency responsible for ensuring safety and pollution control at sea. There are currently 169 member states.

You will notice that in the above evacuation plan, all of the symbols are exactly the same as the symbols BCF, Marine Atlantic, P&O, and virtually every other marine operator in the world uses. This is what standardization can do for us. Doesn't matter where a passenger is from, or even whether they speak the native language, they will always be able to read the evacuation plan.

On a related note, does anybody know what the official "international language" as designated by the IMO is?

If you guessed English, you are correct. If you are being certified by an IMO member state, you will be required to write a significant portion of your test in English. This is to ensure ships at sea will always be able establish basic communications.

[Deleted]

Fjordveien a Tide ferry in Rogaland, Norway

Arrives in stormy weather

[heretix]

The company's name was changed from Tide to Norled in 2012.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norled

www.norled.no/en/

[timmyc]

Two photos I took last week-ish of Norled's Admiralen on her way to Bergen: 

P1220427 by Timothy Choi, on Flickr


P1220426 by Timothy Choi, on Flickr

[Starsteward]

Great shots 'Tim'. Looking intently at those photos, one just gets overwhelmed by a sense of 'very cold'

[timmyc]

Thanks! It was pleasantly warm, actually - at least, more so than the US east coast at the time! A comfortable 0-+2C or so, if I recall correctly.