Hurtigruten Celebrates Anniversaries of Polar Heros Fridtjof Nansen and Roald Amunsen

In honor of the anniversaries of two national events – polar explorer, scientist and humanist Fridtjof Nansen’s birth, and polar hero and pioneer aviator Roald Amundsen’s historic trek to the South Pole – the Norwegian Government has declared 2011 the Year of Nansen-Amundsen.

Hurtigruten, which was established in the same year that Fridtjof Nansen set off into the Arctic Ocean in his newly built vessel Fram, is celebrating the monumental year with four unique itineraries honoring their legacies.

First, a centenary celebration onboard the MS Fram, named after Nansen’s famous ship, on Dec. 14 the day Amundsen and his men reached the South Pole, during the Chilean Fjords and Antarctica voyage; the Climate Voyage; the special Polar Bears, Islands and Fjords voyage following in the path of Nansen and finally the Ice Breakers theme cruise.