– I have worked with this for 30 years, but we have never experienced this before. That’s what Bjørn Blichfeldt, chairman of the board of AS Oplandske Dampskibsselskap, says. Problematic season After a postponed season at the start of the summer, the ship had to be repaired after a paddle wheel was broken. After weeks on land, the ship could be put on Mjøsa again. Until the ship came to a full stop at Mjøsa last week. On Monday, it became clear that Mjøsa’s white swan will lose the rest of the season. – It is very sad. It is sad for the passengers, for the shipping company and the employees. Economic consequences Blichfeldt says that this will have major economic consequences. – This will be very tough. We don’t know exactly how tough, because we haven’t yet received the bill for the first job. – Fortunately, we had very good finances when we entered this season. He points out that they have borrowed money and received half a million kroner from Skibladner’s friends for shovel repairs. In addition, they receive support from the Ministry of Culture of NOK 2.8 million. Several difficult years In the run-up to the pandemic, the ship had to go through a repair that cost in excess of NOK 10 million. Then came two years of pandemic, during which they had to sail with half the passenger capacity. This year’s season was postponed due to low water on Mjøsa. Then the accidents came on top of it all. – This summer we have had two major accidents. In previous years, we have only had a few days of downtime, and now pretty much the whole summer has passed, says Blichfeldt. – Now we just have to look ahead to 2023.
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Skibladner misses the rest of the season after an accident. Only got two weeks at Mjøsa in 2022 – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
