Hurtigruten Expeditions Cruise Company Rebrands as HX

The Hurtigruten Group is rebranding Hurtigruten Expeditions as HX to take its adventure travel brand to the next level.

It is expected that Hurtigruten Norway, which celebrated 130 years of operating the Norwegian Coastal Express this summer, will keep the iconic name but simplify it to “Hurtigruten,” keeping the same name it was given in 1893, which means “the fastest route.”

For over 130 years, Hurtigruten has been synonymous with travel in Norway. In 2021, when we split the two brands, we embarked on a project that culminated today’s evolution of our brand identities,” said Daniel Skjeldam, CEO of Hurtigruten Group. As HX continues to grow its global presence and strengthen Hurtigruten’s iconic status on the Norwegian coast, it will remain an innovator in expedition cruising and sustainable travel. Our high-end expedition itineraries to some of the world’s most adventurous and remote places are being invested in by HX. In this year’s most exciting new itinerary, launching in the fall, HX will be the only cruise liner to exclusively sail the West African archipelagos of Cape Verde and Bissagos Islands..”

Starting in December, updated brochures, websites, and social media channels will carry the new HX brand and logo; livery repainting of the fleet’s six ships will begin over the next 18 months.

As part of the company’s 2020 strategy, the two brands would be strategically separated to enhance their operational and commercial autonomy, enabling them to provide distinctly different guest experiences. Hurtigruten Group completed its internal restructuring earlier this year in order to align commercial and support functions with dedicated ship operations, which began in 2021. In addition, Hurtigruten Expeditions announced over the summer that its battery-hybrid-powered MS Otto Sverdrup would be transferred to Hurtigruten Norway as of January 2024, and the MS Maud would be repositioned to Antarctica in response to the growing demand for expedition ships.