Risavika on the coast of Norway has experienced mixed fortunes in recent years. The port serves nearby Stavanger, the city that is the service hub for the Norwegian offshore oil industry. The ferry company DFDS cancelled its regular link from Newcastle-upon-Tyne in northeast England to Risavika in 2008, and in the same year Scandinavian operator Color Line also dropped Risavika from its schedules.
But now there is news that another ferry operator is assessing Risavika as a port-of-call. The Faroese company Smyril Line has featured often in the pages of hidden europe magazine. In our current winter issue, we describe a journey from Denmark to Iceland on the Smyril line flagship MS Norröna.
Smyril Line has always shown great flexibility in its timetabling, deviating from its core Denmark – Faroes – Iceland route to take advantage of commercial opportunities as they arise. The ports of Bergen in Norway, Lerwick in the Shetland Islands and Scrabster on the Scottish mainland have all been served at various times in recent years. Now Smyril Line is evidently evaluating Risavika as a possible port where the Norröna might call on her regular sailings from Denmark to the Faroes. Smyril director Peter Holm is quoted in the Stavanger newspaper Aftenbladet as saying that schedules for the upcoming summer season could even be rejigged to accommodate an extra Norröna stop at Risavika. We shall watch with interest.
Nicky Gardner and Susanne Kries
(hidden europe)
John
8 February 2010
A weekly circular tour, with a 'walk on / walk off' service for passengers able to take in Norway - Shetland - Scrabster - Faeroes - Iceland, would certainly have 'High Summer' appeal.
Hilaire Redknapp
8 February 2010
I was a regular on the Newcastle - Risavika route until they dropped it in 2008. I've been going the long way round since then... Any shortcuts for me?
hidden europe
8 February 2010
What good thoughts, John and Hilaire.
John, indeed just such a circuit existed until about five years ago, when, for a couple of summers, Smyril Line served Bergen, Lerwick and Scrabster. Sadly, the service never generated the Scottish-originating traffic that Smyril hoped for. High port charges at the Scottish harbours did not help, and so Smyril's Scottish ports of call were abandoned.
Both of your comments also highlight the absence of any regular scheduled ferry links nowadays between the United Kingdom and Norway. This is a terrible gap that really needs to be filled. P&O, DFDS, and Fjord Line (as well as Smyril of course) have all at various times offered services from Newcastle, Aberdeen or Shetland to Bergen. But regrettably none of these links have survived. So no short cuts for you Hilaire.
Les
23 February 2010
You can of course fly from Orkney and Shetland to Bergen with Flybe this summer.