Nor Lines

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.

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

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

• Coastal freight services
• Multimodal logistics
• Sea and road transport
• Freight forwarding services
• Customs clearance services

Headquarters

HQ city

Tananger

HQ country

Norway

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Infrastructure, Personnel, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Additional Services and Fees: Fees for priority delivery, crane operations, storage, customs clearance, and regulatory environmental fees
4. 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

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core 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

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Samskip GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Nor 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.
• HurtigrutencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNor 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 KystrutencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNor Lines manages cargo operations on Havila Kystruten vessels, providing additional capacity on the coastal route between Bergen and Kirkenes.
• Bergen Havn (Bergen Port)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the Kystarbeiderne documentary series and a key hub for cargo consolidation before shipping north along the coast and to Svalbard.
• Salt ImportmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Kystarbeiderne Season 2, featuring salt transport logistics along the Norwegian coast as part of the documentary series.
• Renault Trucks NorgeminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsor/partner in Kystarbeiderne Season 2, showcasing sustainable truck logistics as part of the coastal transport chain.
• FourPro SolutionsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartner in Kystarbeiderne Season 2, contributing to the documentary series about coastal logistics.
• Havnevik ASminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerProduction company for the Kystarbeiderne documentary series in collaboration with True West.
• Blink FilmminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerProduction company for Kystarbeiderne Season 1 documentary series.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad 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

• Facebookfacebook.com/norlines
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/skipafelagi-nor-lines-sp-f-fo-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Nor Lines