Until MS Midnatsol, MS Narvik and MS Vesterålen were launched in 1982 and 1983, the Coastal Express ships did not have their own car deck. With the introduction of the large, hydraulic side gate on the port side of the ship, cars could be driven straight into the ship’s side.
Before that, cars were hoisted onto the front deck and transported under the open sky.
At the Hurtigruten Museum, we felt it was important to be able to convey this practice, which today can be perceived as a bit strange. When the new building for the Hurtigruten Museum, which was to house MS Finnmarken itself, was to be built, we therefore started the search for a suitable car to place on the deck on board, before the ship got walls and roof around it.
Per Silsand, after hearing about the museum’s desire for a car for the exhibition, chose to contact us about his father’s old Ford. Olaf Silsand had once been a captain in Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab, and his son thought it would be very appropriate if his father’s car could fit in the museum.
The car is a stately Ford sedan M17, 1977 model.
Per had inherited the picture from his father, but had no use for it himself. His father had a big heart for the Hurtigruten, and his son thought it would make him very happy if he had known that his car would end up in the museum.
In connection with the handover, he could tell that his father had been lying on his last lap in the hospital just a few minutes’ walk away when MS Finnmarken was lifted ashore in 1999. The son went back and forth and reported to Olaf on how the landing was going. He had to know how Finnmarken was doing. After many hours, the son was finally able to report that everything had gone well. MS Finnmarken stood rock solid on land.
Shortly afterwards, Olaf passed away.
We at the Hurtigruten Museum are very grateful for the gift we have received from the Silsand family, and we are happy that Olaf got to experience the joy of our Hurtigruten ship getting safely on land, where it stands today.