Den Norske amerikalinje

The Norwegian America Line (Norwegian: Den Norske Amerikalinje), was a shipping line, originally an operator of ocean liners and cargo ships. Founded in 1910, the company ran a regular transatlantic service between Norway and the United States, and later included a route to East Africa as well. Primarily due to competition from air travel, transatlantic passenger voyages were slowly discontinued during the years.

After the Great War, the company was one of Norway’s largest shipping lines, owning a fleet that included 19 vessels, several of which were for commercial cargo transport. After the Second World War heavy ships losses were overcome by the building of new vessels, however the reduction in the passengers’ traffic by sea shifted the company’s focus mainly to the cargo business, including container and bulk shipping from the 1970s.

In 1980 the last two passenger liners were handed over into a new joint venture company (Norwegian American Cruises) with Leif Höegh & Co, and finally sold to Cunard Line in 1984.

During the 1990s NAL main business were the Roll-on/roll-off operations and sea carriage of cars, through the NOSAC brand (Norwegian Specialised Autocarcarriers), with a fleet of nearly 20 vessels, then acquired by Wilh. Wilhelmsen in 1995.

Den Norske Amerikalinje A/S oli norjalainen laivayhtiö. Osakeyhtiö perustettiin 1910 kansallisena yhtiönä, jota tukivat Norjan viranomaiset ja amerikannorjalaiset tahot. Se aloitti säännöllisen matkustajalaivaliikenteen Yhdysvaltojen ja Norjan välillä 1913. Matkustajalaivaliikenne SS Stavangerfjordilla, SS Bergensfjordilla ja SS Oslofjordilla muodostikin yhtiön ydinliiketoiminnan 50 vuoden ajan, joka loppui vuonna 1973.

Tämän jälkeen yrityksen laivat MS Sagafjord ja MS Vistafjord olivat risteilyliikenteessä ja vuodesta 1981 erityisesti autojen merikuljetustoiminnassa. Wilh. Wilhelmsen Group hankki yrityksen osake-enemmistön hallintaansa 1995 ja se yhdistyi Wilhelmsen Lines -yhtiön kanssa.

Den norske Amerikalinje A/S (NAL) var eit norsk reiarlag for rutefart mellom Noreg og USA, som vart stifta i 1910. Selskapet vart etter kvart berre kalla «Amerikalinja». Reiarlaget hadde viktig nasjonal tyding, og skipa til selskapet vart rekna som flaggskipa til handelsflåten.