Godmother of the ship was Cecilie Skog, a popular Norwegian polar expedition traveller and extreme climber. SPITSBERGEN will start a nine months stint on the Hurtigruten before taking over her role as an expedition cruise ship in May 2017. 

Until September 2016, she sails on the same dates as the LOFOTEN, thus compensating the latter’s small capacity. 

After the summer, she will replace the MIDNATSOL, which will then sail southward for a season of expedition cruises in the Antarctic. 

SPITSBERGEN was originally built as the Portuguese ferry ATLANTIDA in 2009 but was never delivered to Atlanticoline due to weight issues. Hurtigruten acquired the vessel in June 2015 and had her rebuilt into the SPITSBERGEN, first at Öresund Dry Docks in Landskrona and then at Fosen in Rissa.