Type Passenger / cargo ship Length 32 m | Launched 1908 | |
 | ||
Owner Indre Nordhordlandske Dampskibsselskab Installed power Coal-fired steam (1908–1964)
Diesel (1964–c.1996)
Steam (c.1996–) Speed 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) Builder Christianssands Mekaniske Værksted | ||
SS Oster is a Norwegian steamship built in 1908 by Christianssands Mekaniske Værksted for the Indre Nordhordlandske Dampskibsselskab. She sailed between Bergen and Osterfjorden in Norway with passengers and goods from 1908 until World War II when she was acquired as a guard ship by the Royal Norwegian Navy and later by Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine. After the war the vessel was in need of maintenance and modernization before she could be put back in service in 1956. As the only coal-powered steamer left in Bergen, Oster became a symbol of the old fjord steamers on the western coast. However, the boat was sold and rebuilt as a freighter in 1964, and the steam-engine was replaced with a more modern diesel engine. In 1996 she was bought by Nordhordland Veteranbåtlag who restored the ship back to her original state as a steam-driven passenger ship. She now sails with tourists on special occasions.