It is late morning on board the MS Trollfjord when the announcement comes through: “Land in sight!”
It is welcome news after sailing 523 nautical miles – 970km – between Honningsvag, on the North Cape, and Longyearbyen, the largest town on the island of Spitsbergen, in Norway’s remote polar north.
It is the last major stage on the Spitsbergen route of the Norwegian shipping company Hurtigruten. The company discontinued the service in the 1980s, but resumed it in summer 2024. You can only book a trip aboard the MS Trollfjord from May to September.
The cruise starts in Bergen on Norway’s southwestern coast and heads some 3,000km (1,860 miles) to the Svalbard archipelago – the name meaning “cool coast” in Norwegian – in the Arctic Ocean.
The 500 passengers can still use their mobile phones and laptops thanks to the ship’s reliable wireless network.