Stavanger: Where Norway’s Maritime Past Meets Hollywood
Stavanger: Where Norway’s Maritime Past Meets Hollywood
— David Eugene Perry
Ahoy! Today, Holland America Line’s Nieuw Statendam docked at Sandnes, from whence we decamped to the historic and hugely important port of Stavanger. Once dominated by the oil industry, Stavanger is now a bustling tourism hub while remaining firmly rooted in its extraordinary maritime heritage.
Naturally, our first stop was the Norwegian Maritime Museum, celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Beautifully curated, it tells the story of a city whose fortunes have always been tied to the sea—from herring fishing and shipbuilding to merchant shipping, tankers, offshore oil, and today’s thriving cruise industry.
Few cities have adapted as successfully as Stavanger. Beginning in the 1600s as a modest fishing port, it grew rapidly during the great herring boom of the 19th century. Local shipowners expanded from coastal sailing vessels to steamships and eventually to fleets trading around the globe. During the 20th century, Stavanger became one of Norway’s premier shipping centers, and when North Sea oil was discovered in the late 1960s, it transformed itself yet again into Norway’s energy capital. Today, tourism has become another major pillar of the local economy, but the city’s maritime DNA remains unmistakable.
The museum also traces the remarkable evolution of Stavanger’s shipping companies. They embraced every technological revolution—from sail to steam, from steam to diesel, and later from carrying passengers and cargo to transporting oil and gas. One exhibit recounts the story of Monsen Shipping, founded in 1812, one of the city’s oldest shipping firms, whose history mirrors Stavanger’s own transformation from regional trading port to international maritime powerhouse.
Waiting just outside in the harbor are two living reminders of that heritage.
The Rogaland, built here in Stavanger in 1929, spent decades carrying passengers and cargo along Norway’s coast between Stavanger, Bergen, and Oslo. Her history is extraordinary. During World War II she survived mines, groundings, and one of Norway’s worst wartime disasters. On April 20, 1944—Hitler’s 55th birthday—she was moored in Bergen harbor when the Dutch ammunition ship Voorbode, requisitioned by the Germans and carrying 120 tons of explosives, exploded nearby. The blast killed more than 100 civilians, devastated much of the harbor, and badly damaged the Rogaland, which eventually settled to the bottom. After the war she was salvaged, repaired, converted from steam to diesel in 1950, and returned to service. Retired in the 1960s, she was rescued by volunteers in 1989 and painstakingly restored. Today she once again sails as Stavanger’s official heritage ship.
Film buffs may recognize her as well. The Rogaland portrayed a white-painted hospital ship in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, filmed in France in 2016.
Moored just ahead lies the Sandnes, launched in 1950. Unlike the Rogaland, she remains an authentic oil-fired propeller steamship, one of the last of her kind. For decades she worked the overnight coastal route linking Sandnes, Stavanger, Haugesund, and Bergen before being retired and preserved as a floating museum. Walking aboard is like stepping back into the twilight years of Norway’s steam age.
Stavanger’s influence on maritime history extends far beyond its own harbor. The city—and Norway’s west coast generally—helped shape the modern cruise industry itself. Norwegian shipowners, including Knut Kloster, pioneered today’s vacation cruising through Norwegian Caribbean Line, while his early business partner Ted Arison later founded Carnival Cruise Line. Meanwhile, Norwegian shipping companies also created Royal Caribbean, helping transform Miami into the cruise capital of the world.
And there is one more cinematic connection nearby. Less than an hour north, in Kopervik on the island of Karmøy, lies the modern Viking longship Draken Harald Hårfagre. Fully seaworthy and built using traditional Viking techniques, she portrayed Odysseus’ ship in Christopher Nolan’s new epic The Odyssey, proving that Norway’s maritime traditions are not merely preserved—they are still sailing into history. A personal note: Alfredo and I saw The Odyssey in Rotterdam before embarking this cruise and loved it. The at-sea scenes with that Viking ship are enough to make you reach for the Dramamine.
Stavanger may be known today for oil, but after a day exploring its museum, walking its waterfront, and stepping aboard these beautifully preserved ships, it is clear that the sea has always been—and remains—the heart of this remarkable city.