Kystlink
Encyclopedia
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
shipping company that operates between Langesund
Langesund
is the administrative centre of the municipality of Bamble, Norway.The town of Langesund was established as a municipality January 1, 1838...
in Norway and Strömstad
Strömstad
Strömstad is a locality and the seat of Strömstad Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 6,110 inhabitants in 2005.Strömstad is, despite its small population, for historical reasons normally still referred to as a city.- History :...
, Sweden and Hirtshals
Hirtshals
Hirtshals is a town in Hjørring municipality in Region Nordjylland on the north coast of the island of Vendsyssel-Thy at the top of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark, Europe.-The town of Hirtshals:...
, Denmark. The company was wholly owned by Taubåtkompaniet, owned by Ole T. Bjørnevik, and operated one cruiseferry
Cruiseferry
A cruiseferry is a ship that combines the features of a cruise ship with a Ro-Pax ferry. Many passengers travel with the ships for the cruise experience, staying only a few hours at the destination port or not leaving the ship at all, while others use the ships as means of...
, MS Kongshavn. It ceased operations on 21 October 2008.
The company was established in 2006, following the bankruptcy in Kystlink AS. It bought MS Pride of Telemark, but the ship had an accident on 11 September 2007, and was for the rest of the companies history in dry dock. After this is bough MS Fantaasia from Estonian Tallink
Tallink
Tallink is an Estonian shipping company currently operating Baltic Sea cruiseferries and ropax ships from Estonia to Finland, Estonia to Sweden, Latvia to Sweden and Finland to Germany. They also own Silja Line and a part of SeaRail...
, changing the name to Kongshavn. The ship was described by Håkan Ågård in the Swedish Maritime Administration
Swedish Maritime Administration
The Swedish Maritime Administration is the Swedish government agency which provides services to the transport sector by keeping the sea lanes open and safe...
as the worst he had ever seen, with severe lacks to maintenance, though pointed out the responsibility was that of Tallink and not Kystlink. This point of view had protested by the Estonian Maritime Administration
Estonian Maritime Administration
The Estonian Maritime Administration is a governmental agencythat operates within the area of government of the Ministry of Economic Affairs andCommunications, has a directing function, exercises state supervision and applies...
and in July 2008 supported by Paris MOU
Port State Control
Port State Control is the inspection of foreign ships in other national ports by PSC officers for the purpose of verifying that the competency of the master and officers on board, the condition of a ship and its equipment comply with the requirements of international conventions Port State...
.
On October 20, 2008, the company announced that its ferry service would conclude on October 21, and the company would be liquidated
Liquidation
In law, liquidation is the process by which a company is brought to an end, and the assets and property of the company redistributed. Liquidation is also sometimes referred to as winding-up or dissolution, although dissolution technically refers to the last stage of liquidation...
.