Nor Lines
Nor Lines is Norway's leading multimodal coastal logistics operator, combining sea, road, and rail freight across 50 terminals and 43+ locations from Kristiansand to Kirkenes and Svalbard, serving enterprise verticals and private customers as a Samskip Group subsidiary.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1864
- HeadquartersTananger, Norway
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What Nor Lines does
Nor Lines is Norway's leading multimodal coastal logistics operator, providing door-to-door freight transport combining sea, road, and rail services across the entire Norwegian coastline from Kristiansand to Kirkenes and onward to Svalbard. The company, tracing its origins to coastal shipping operations dating back to 1864, operates a fleet of approximately 30 cargo vessels in its Daily network (five of which are group-owned), holds dedicated cargo capacity on 11 ships sailing the Kystruten in partnership with Hurtigruten and Havila, and runs roughly 400 distribution trucks across 50 company-operated terminals and 43+ locations nationwide. Its core products are organized into coastal sea services (Kystruten, Godsbåt, Svalbard, Kystlogistikk), land-based extensions (Bane og vei for rail/road, Prosjekttransport for oversized and project cargo), and value-added services including in-house customs clearance at major border crossings and a structured schedule of fuel, infrastructure, and environmental surcharges.
Nor Lines firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Nor Lines
- Legal name
- NOR Lines Norway AS
- Website
- https://norlines.no
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1864
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Short description
- Nor Lines is Norway's leading multimodal coastal logistics operator, combining sea, road, and rail freight across 50 terminals and 43+ locations from Kristiansand to Kirkenes and Svalbard, serving enterprise verticals and private customers as a Samskip Group subsidiary.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Nor Lines industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Coastal Freight and Logistics Services
- NAICS
- Deep Sea, Coastal, and Great Lakes Water Transportation (48311), Support Activities for Water Transportation (4883), Marine Cargo Handling (488320), Freight Transportation Arrangement (488510)
- SIC
- Water Transportation (4400), Arrangement Of Transportation Of Freight & Cargo (4731), Trucking & Courier Services (No Air) (4210)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Project & OOG/Breakbulk Ocean Forwarding (Out-of-Gauge, RoRo) (TLACABAH)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Terminal Cargo Handling & Yard Operations (Receiving, Staging, Delivery) (TLAHALAB), Ocean Import Forwarding (Destination Handling/DO/ISF) (TLACABAE)
Keywords
Where Nor Lines is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Tananger
- HQ country
- Norway
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices5 records
Markets served
Nor Lines business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Operations, Infrastructure, Personnel, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Sea Freight (Kystruten and Daily Network): Revenue from shipping cargo along the Norwegian coast using Hurtigruten, Havila ships, and cargo vessels in the Daily network. Includes capacity on 11 ships on Kystruten and 30 ships in the Daily network.
- Road and Rail Transport: Revenue from road transport through 400 distribution vehicles and rail transport using containers on trains. Includes 50 direct lines for road/rail traffic.
- Additional Services and Fees: Fees for priority delivery, crane operations, storage, customs clearance, and regulatory environmental fees
- Private Customer Shipping: Online booking for private individuals sending packages or vehicles, with prices starting from 646 NOK for packages and 3,389 NOK for car transport
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | Standard fuel surcharge for road transport |
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | Standard fuel surcharge for sea transport |
| Unit Pricing | Per shipment | Regulatory Environmental Fee by weight |
| Unit Pricing | Per shipment | Private package shipping starting price |
| Unit Pricing | Per shipment | Car transport via Kystruten starting price |
| Usage-based | Per shipment | Infrastructure surcharge by weight |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels6 records
Nor Lines product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Nor Lines operates a multimodal coastal freight transport network along the Norwegian coastline, combining sea, road, and rail services. The company provides door-to-door cargo delivery through approximately 50 terminals and 43+ locations, leveraging direct cargo capacity on Hurtigruten and Havila coastal ships, 30 vessels in its Daily cargo network, and 400 distribution trucks.
Product overview
Nor Lines is a Norwegian multimodal logistics company and the leading provider of coastal freight transport in Norway. The core offering is a platform of coordinated sea, road, and rail transport services spanning approximately 43 terminals and 50 locations along the Norwegian coastline, underpinned by a fleet of approximately 30 cargo ships in the Daily network and 400 daily distribution trucks. The product portfolio is organized around three tiers: (1) Core sea transport products — Kystruten (coastal route via Hurtigruten/Havila), Godsbåt (cargo boat with daily departures), Svalbard (Arctic freight), and Kystlogistikk (integrated coastal logistics); (2) Land transport extensions — Bane og vei (rail and road) and Prosjekttransport (project/oversized cargo); and (3) Value-added services — Import og fortolling (customs clearance) and Gebyrer og tillegg (fees and surcharges schedule). All sea services are coordinated through a dedicated operations center and supported by an online booking portal. Nor Lines operates as part of the Samskip Group, which extends its reach internationally.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Nor Lines Daily: A service utilizing available capacity on ships sailing along Norway's coast to move more cargo from road to sea.
- Kystruten
Products and services
- Kystruten (Coastal Route) A coastal shipping route operated in partnership with Hurtigruten and Havila, providing daily departures from 34 ports between Bergen and Kirkenes. Supports all cargo types including frozen, refrigerated, dangerous goods, oversized shipments, and vehicles for business and private customers.
- Svalbard Freight Service Weekly seasonal freight service to and from Svalbard (May–September) via Hurtigruten between Bergen, Tromsø, and Longyearbyen/Ny-Ålesund. Offers cargo capacity across dry, frozen, refrigerated, and vehicle categories with customs clearance support.
- Godsbåt (Cargo Boat)
Quantifiable outcome
- 31% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to road transport
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Nor Lines
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Nor Lines technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Nor Lines partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.
- Samskip GroupcoreNor Lines is a company in the Samskip Group, headquartered in the Netherlands. Samskip acquired Nor Lines Group in 2017 to secure domestic sea activities and enable transfer of cargo from road to sea transport. Samskip's activities in Norway are led from their head office in Lysaker.
- HurtigrutencoreNor Lines has responsibility for all cargo on Hurtigruten ships, with dedicated cargo capacity and operations at 34 ports along the Norwegian coast. Hurtigruten sails to Svalbard with Nor Lines cargo.
- Havila KystrutencoreNor Lines manages cargo operations on Havila Kystruten vessels, providing additional capacity on the coastal route between Bergen and Kirkenes.
- Bergen Havn (Bergen Port)majorPartner in the Kystarbeiderne documentary series and a key hub for cargo consolidation before shipping north along the coast and to Svalbard.
- Salt ImportmajorPartner in Kystarbeiderne Season 2, featuring salt transport logistics along the Norwegian coast as part of the documentary series.
- Renault Trucks NorgeminorSponsor/partner in Kystarbeiderne Season 2, showcasing sustainable truck logistics as part of the coastal transport chain.
- FourPro SolutionsminorPartner in Kystarbeiderne Season 2, contributing to the documentary series about coastal logistics.
- Havnevik ASminorProduction company for the Kystarbeiderne documentary series in collaboration with True West.
- Blink FilmminorProduction company for Kystarbeiderne Season 1 documentary series.
Scale indicators12 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Nor Lines competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- DSV: Global freight forwarder and logistics provider with strong Nordic and Norwegian operations across air, sea, and road. Comparable to Nor Lines on the freight forwarding and multimodal coordination layer, though DSV operates at vastly larger scale and does not own coastal tonnage.
- DHL Global Forwarding: Global freight forwarding and customs arm of Deutsche Post DHL with strong Nordic presence. Comparable to Nor Lines as a one-stop multimodal logistics provider and customs broker, though at global scale and without coastal shipping assets.
- Stena Line: One of Europe's largest ferry operators with significant Nordic and North Sea freight routes. Comparable to Nor Lines as a broad ferry/cargo incumbent but at much larger scale and with international rather than purely domestic-coastal positioning.
- Kuehne+Nagel: World's largest freight forwarder with extensive Norwegian operations covering sea, air, and overland freight plus customs brokerage. Comparable to Nor Lines in offering integrated door-to-door logistics and customs, but without owned coastal tonnage.
- Maersk: World's largest container shipping line with significant Norwegian import/export and inland logistics operations. Comparable to Nor Lines on ocean container freight and customs/integrator logistics, though Maersk focuses on deep-sea containerized cargo rather than coastal breakbulk.
Direct peers
- Color Line: Norwegian ferry operator moving passengers, vehicles, and commercial cargo on routes between Norway and the continent. Comparable to Nor Lines as a Norwegian-flag coastal/short-sea operator with significant cargo capacity on vessels.
- DFDS: Danish-headquartered ferry and logistics operator running ro-ro and multimodal freight services across Northern Europe including Norway and the North Sea. Closest comparable in business mix (ferry-based cargo, integrated logistics, Nordic geography) to Nor Lines' coastal network model.
- Hurtigruten: Norwegian coastal shipping company operating the historic Kystruten between Bergen and Kirkenes. Directly comparable because it is the vessel operator on the same coastal corridor whose cargo capacity Nor Lines sells; a partner but also an adjacent operator with overlapping customer relationships.
- Wallenius Wilhelmsen: Norwegian-headquartered global shipping and logistics company with deep roots in ro-ro, vehicle, and project cargo. Highly comparable to Nor Lines in Nordic identity, multimodal offering (sea + land), and focus on non-containerized freight.
Regional players
- Posten Norge: Norwegian national postal and parcel group offering domestic parcel, e-commerce logistics, and freight services. Comparable to Nor Lines on the Norwegian domestic distribution layer, particularly for parcels and private customers, but focused on parcels rather than heavy/coastal freight.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Nor Lines social profiles
Digital presenceNor Lines financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Nor Lines leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
Nor Lines subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries4 records
Nor Lines funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Nor Lines M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Nor Lines
What does Nor Lines do?
Nor Lines operates a multimodal coastal freight transport network along the Norwegian coastline, combining sea, road, and rail services. The company provides door-to-door cargo delivery through approximately 50 terminals and 43+ locations, leveraging direct cargo capacity on Hurtigruten and Havila coastal ships, 30 vessels in its Daily cargo network, and 400 distribution trucks.
Is Nor Lines a public or private company?
Nor Lines is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Nor Lines founded?
Nor Lines was founded in 1864. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is Nor Lines based?
Nor Lines is headquartered in Tananger, Norway, in the Europe region.
How does Nor Lines make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Sea Freight (Kystruten and Daily Network) is the primary driver. The others are road and Rail Transport, additional Services and Fees and private Customer Shipping.
Who are Nor Lines's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are DSV, DHL Global Forwarding, Stena Line, Kuehne+Nagel and Maersk. Direct peers are Color Line, DFDS, Hurtigruten and Wallenius Wilhelmsen. Posten Norge is listed as a regional player.
Does Nor Lines have an API?
No public API is recorded for Nor Lines.
What industry is Nor Lines in?
Nor Lines's product category is Coastal Freight and Logistics Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is TLACABAH, Project & OOG/Breakbulk Ocean Forwarding (Out-of-Gauge, RoRo), with a secondary code of TLAHALAB, Terminal Cargo Handling & Yard Operations (Receiving, Staging, Delivery). Its NAICS code is 48311 and its SIC code is 4400.