September 20th we made a 2 hour stop in Stokmarknes, the 1893 birthplace of the Hurtigruten Norwegian Express.
From its beginnings as a consolidated shipping service that linked ports along Norway’s 60,000 mile coast, Hurtigruten has grown. It continues to serve its original mission at nearly 70 ports, 365 days a year, but its ocean going vessels now also serve the needs of tourism, and adventure tourism.
At Stokmarknes we were treated to a tour of the world’s largest “ship in a bottle”. A huge glass fronted building holds in display Hurtigruten’s 1956 ship, MS Finnmarken.
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Retired from service in 1993 this 266 foot long vessel could transport up to 585 passengers along with freight and mail. It is the centerpiece of the Hurtigruten Museum.
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Leaving Stokmarknes we embarked upon a cruise through some of Norway’s many fjords.
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Our ship, the MS Trollfjord, is 445 feet long with a 70 foot beam.
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The Captain piloted the ship through narrow cliff-walled passages with mere feet to spare.
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At one point we came to a dead end where the Captain caused the ship to turn on its axis for 15 minutes, thus allowing passengers a leisurely opportunity for pictures of the surrounding mountains.
We felt as if we could reach out and touch the cliffs.
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I am writing this post on September 21st. We are on the home stretch of this remarkable 15 day journey. Our final stop is the morning of the 23rd, Bergen, where it began.
I can safely say that in some respects this has been more of an adventure for me and Christine than for any other of the ship’s passengers. Thanks to the ship’s crew, health care professionals aboard and ashore, and accommodating locals who gave assistance to us, “our adventure” never became “our disaster”.
With Gratitude, Peace Everyone. Pete
PS. Earlier today we saw another “Eye of the Needle”, Torghatten Mountain.
This from Wikipedia: “Torghatten (846 ft high) is a mountain located along the coastal area of northern Norway that features a distinctive natural tunnel passing completely through it. According to legend, the hole was made by the troll Hestmannen while he was chasing the beautiful woman Lekamøya. As the troll realized he would not overtake her, he released an arrow to kill her, but the troll-king of Sømna threw his hat into the arrow’s path to save her. The hat turned into the mountain with a hole in the middle.
The tunnel measures over 500 feet long, with an average width of nearly 60 feet and an average height of 130 feet, and sits about 350 feet above sea level at its midpoint.
September 19th. Our crossing of the Barents and North Seas was hell on earth. For 36 hours we endured winds gusting to 60 mph (100 kph) and waves that the Captain estimated reached over 30 feet. The ship and crew were more capable than most passengers. Yet, a number of experienced crew commented that yesterday was an extreme experience.
About 23 years ago I spent three days in similar conditions in the mid Atlantic on a 45 foot sailboat. That experience felt more life-threatening. Yesterday‘s experience was more physically threatening in that there was such a great risk of being catapulted from one side of a large room or space to the other side, accelerating and crashing into a wall, furnishings, or fixtures. Conditions finally relented in yesterday’s late evening hours. Today was the calm after the storm. No drama (except for the Northern Lights!)
We were invited to join the Captain on the ship’s bridge.
We made a brief commercial port of call, (no passenger time ashore)…
… and our final final port of call for the day was in the small community of Torsken (pop 200), situated in a fjord on the shore of Senja, the second largest island in Norway.
Here are some pictures from the day, just pictures:
...Like a REALLY BIG video game..For good luck?..Two ships berthed between mobile dry docks........
Peace Everyone. Pete
PS. It’s a bit past midnight and there was an announcement onboard our ship. The Northern Lights are visible!
We have reached Ny-Alesund, Norway, the apex of this journey and the northern limit of civilization.
At the 79th parallel we are 750 miles from the North Pole.
One can say that civilization’s limits extend no further north considering that this is the northernmost settlement with a year round population (35 over Winter and 120 in Summer) and the northernmost post office in the world.
Christine sending postcards home. The Post Office
Our 5 hour ship’s visit briefly doubled or even tripled the local population.
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Not everyone left the ship to brave the bone chilling cold.
Ny-Alesund was founded in 1917 after previous explorations had determined that rich coal deposits could be mined here.
The coal transfer portA mine entrance atop the mountain, now a research instrument location..The coal train, now a memorial.In the small museum is an exhibit of the coal company, physician’s tools. These included a transport basket, dental chair, and a straight jacket!
In spite of the harsh conditions mining was pursued until 1962 when a mine disaster claimed the lives of 21 miners.
The town is also well known as a launching point for polar exploration.
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A 12 room hotel was built here in 1936 and still stands, although it is not currently in use.
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Famously, Roald Amundsen set off for the North Pole from here in the airship Norge, and became the first person to reach the South Pole (1911) and North Pole (1926). He is also credited as having been the first to successfully navigate the Northwest Passage (1909). He disappeared without a trace while conducting an Arctic rescue mission in 1928.
...Our obligatory, armed escort.
The mast from which Norge was launched and a bust of Amundsen remain as testament to the man and his achievements.
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Arctic research gained a foothold in Ny-Alesund in the mid 20th Century. It remains the driving force of the settlement today. 18 research institutes from 11 countries have permanently established facilities. 5 are manned year round.
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Because of the sensitivity of the scientific instruments a 12 mile exclusion zone exists within which the use of mobile devices, WiFi, Bluetooth, and similar technologies is prohibited.
Polar Bears are a constant concern. Locking exterior doors is forbidden in order to afford an escape route in the event of pursuit by a bear. One is also not allowed to leave the town center unless armed or accompanied by an armed escort.
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There was a bear in the vicinity the day before our visit.
Christine and I agree that Ny-Alesund is “otherworldly”… “a nice place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live here!”
.......Evening, as we would soon find out, the calm before the storm.
Peace Everyone. Pete
PS. On our return south from Ny-Alesund a shipboard announcement was given: For the next 24 hours high winds and waves are to be expected. Services aboard ship will be limited. Objects are to be secured and passengers are recommended to exercise caution in their movements.
Prophetic words. Wind gusts are near 60 miles per hour and waves are crashing over the ship’s bow. “Climatologically Interesting”
The following day the Captain advised that the waves had reached over 30 feet (10 m).
Tuesday, September 16. After a 36 hour open ocean crossing we approached Svalbard Island. We would visit two ports of call, the first being Longyearbyen, the northernmost town in the world that has a population of more than 1000.
Our rather pedestrian (standard but small) cabin is located on the 8th deck. Deck 9, the observation deck, is a short stroll down the corridor and up some stairs. I threw on clothes and a light sweater and ascended to that deck. I was in for a shock! The weather of the last few days had been like late Fall in Kansas City. What I emerged into was the depth of Winter. Cold, driving wind, and snow on the surrounding shores. So much for light sweaters. Today would be full on foul weather outerwear.
...Glacier .We listen as the crew describes the nearby abandoned Russian coal mining town. The abandoned Russian coal mine The abandoned Russian town The harsh arctic elements accelerate erosion..A helicopter sea rescue off our port.
Longyearbyen hosts a population of 2,600 (including @500 children) and proudly notes that its residence hail from over 50 countries. It’s an industrial town with an economy based on fishing, arctic research, adventure tourism, and until earlier this year on coal mining.
....The huge Longyearbyen coal operations, closed earlier this year. The red building to the left is apparently the office building.
The Svalbard Longyearbyen Global Seed Vault is located here, but more on that later.
The town was founded in 1907 by John Longyear, of Michigan, USA, owner of the Arctic Coal Company. The town was almost completely destroyed by the Nazis in 1943 and has since been rebuilt as a vibrant modern community.
Today Longyearbyen features an airport, hospital, weekly newspaper, and university extension, in addition to various commercial enterprises.
Interestingly, it does not feature a cemetery. It was found in the 1950s that the permafrost did not allow for the decomposition of the dead. There was fear that biological organisms might remain alive and emerge with the bodies which occasionally surfaced over time due to frost heave. 44 bodies were removed and relocated to the mainland. Thereafter the dearly departed have truly been departed south.
Longyearbyen is ARCTIC! The midnight sun lasts 128 days and polar night is 111 days long. Global climate change/warming impacts Longyearbyen and Svalbard Island more than every other part of the globe.
Humanity’s Lifeboat. The Seed Vault of Longyearbyen.
I’m 73 years old. Those of my generation may recall that in our childhood the elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotami, great cats, the great apes, whales, and walruses… seemed of an inexhaustible numbers. Sadly, extinction for each of these is a very real concern today.
Science has identified 5 great extinction events that have occurred over the Earth’s history. Science has also identified a 6th extinction, The Holocene, also called The Anthropocene Extinction. Flora and Fauna species are disappearing at an unprecedented rate. Causes and blame are topics for a different discussion.
Since the early 20th century, there have been significant efforts to preserve plant biodiversity for future generations. Among these:
The Institute of Plant Genetic Resources in Saint Petersburg, Russia was started in 1924. It survived the 28 month siege of Leningrad in World War II because several botanists chose starvation rather than to eat the seed collections and potatoes.
The Millennium Seed Bank near London, UK, was established in 1996 and is the largest seed bank in the world. It is already home to over 2 1/2 billion seeds representing nearly 40,000 different plant species.
The 12,000 square foot Svalbard-Longyearbyen Global Seed Vault opened in 2008.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a secure backup facility for the world’s crop diversity on the Svalbard archipelago of Norway. As of February 2025 it has received seed samples from 123 genebanks in 85 countries around the world, Photo: Michael Major for Crop TrustMy photo, from a distance through a ship window.
The vault is located hundreds of feet underground, deep in the Arctic permafrost, and within 3 foot thick concrete and steel walls. It is designed to withstand earthquakes, nuclear war, and the ravages of time. Temperatures within are sub-freezing, dry, and ideal for long term seed preservation. The purpose of this vault is the preservation of important food crop species. Signatory countries and organizations archive the seeds of their food crops here. Current holdings include approximately 20 million seeds representing over 13,000 years of agricultural history and 1/3 of the most important food crop varieties in the world.
Image from Wikipedia
Most recently Syria withdrew some of its seed stocks in an effort to reestablish agriculture in its post war era.
Seed vaults in general, and Longyearbyen’s in particular, may indeed be humanities lifeboat.
Peace Everyone. Pete
PS. Yesterday we secured an upgrade to our cabin. We can no longer call our accommodations “pedestrian“. We can no long call it a “cabin”.
Here are pictures from our visit to Honningsvåg, passage by Bear Island, and first sight of land at the southern tip of Svalbard Island.
We arrived in Honningsvåg on Sunday, September 14th. It is 25 miles from North Cape, considered the northernmost point in Europe. Monday was an at sea day during which we passed Bear Island (pop. 9, a research station). We arrive today, Tuesday, in Longyearbyen (pop. 2,600) on Svalbard Island, the northernmost town in the world with a population greater than 1,000. We are currently 780 miles from the North Pole.
Our approach to Honningsvåg...There is evidence of human settlements in this area dating back 11,300 years, at the end of the last Ice age..HonningsvågIn the Honningsvåg harbor....The church in Honningsvåg, Built in 1885 and replacing an older church, it is the only building left standing after the Nazi scorched earth evacuation in 1944.These fellows came down from the mountain side to wander through town..The lighthouse is only 15 feet tall, the shortest one in Norway..The northernmost phone booth in Norway, perhaps the world. It is now a lending library.Passing Bear IslandBear Island The southern coast of Svalbard Island at 5 AM..
Peace Everyone. Pete.
PS. Evening entertainment in the lounge is courtesy of Gill, a talented pianist and singer. He also has hair as amazing as Christine’s!
