Name Midnatsol Port of registry Tromsø, Norway Laid down 17 October 2001 Construction started 17 October 2001 Length 136 m | Operator Hurtigruten Route Bergen—Kirkenes Christened 22 March 2003 Launched 26 April 2002 | |
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Builder Fosen mekaniske verksteder | ||
MS Midnatsol is a Hurtigruten vessel built by Fosen mekaniske verksteder in Rissa, Norway in 2003. It is the fourth ship to sail for Hurtigruten to bear this name. She has a sister ship, MS Trollfjord which also sails for Hurtigruten.
At 04:00 AM on the night of 14 December 2003 the ship was on a southbound course between Ålesund and Måløy when the main power supply failed and Midnatsol lost all engine power. The ship was approaching an underwater reef and the anchors were set out in an attempt to stop the drift, but the attempt failed. All 102 passengers were ordered to the lifeboats after an attempt to connect a towing hawser from another vessel also failed. The situation was very critical and Midnatsol sent a Mayday message. The ship was only 150 meters from shore when one of the anchors finally caught. Not long after, the crew managed to restart the main engines and the ship went on to Florø. The cause of the engine stoppage was an overgrown inlet to the engine's coolant systems.
In August 2004, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation was recording aboard MS Midnatsol for the series Hurtigruten 365. The recordings took place in one year, and the result was 20 episodes that were shown on television.
On June 6, 2015 the vessel caught fire off Vardo in Southern Norway. The fire started from one of the service rooms, but crew reacted immediately and extinguishing it for less than an hour. Fortunately no injuries and damages were reported.
