Bastø Fosen

Bastø Fosen AS is a shipping company that operates the Moss–Horten Ferry, the most trafficked ferry route in Norway. The company, which operates the three ferries MF Bastø I, MF Bastø II and MF Bastø III, carried 1.3 million cars and 2.5 million passengers in 2006. The crossing takes 30 minutes, and the ferries provide two departures per hour throughout the day in each direction, with reduced schedules on the weekends.

The company is a subsidiary of Fosen Trafikklag, and received concession to operate the ferries from 1995, after the former company Gokstad did not offer as good a deal for the authorities. For the first two years traffic was performed with two leased ships. In 2003 Bastø Fosen received concession for operations until 2015, after the Norwegian Public Roads Administration had rejected a competing offer from Stavangerske. The route is the only in the country not to receive any operating subsidies. Bastø Fosen used the concession extension as collateral for ordering the new ferry Bastø III. In 2008 Bastø Fosen announced they were interested in increasing the number of ferries to four. The Public Road Administration has launched plans to build a tunnel under the fjord to replace the ferries, estimated to cost 5 billion kr; in comparison a bridge would cost NOK 15 billion. A tunnel would have to be financed as a toll road.

MS Bastø I and MS Bastø II are identical ships delivered in 1997 for the takeover of the route. They have a capacity of 200 cars and 550 passengers and were built at Fosen Mekaniske Verksted.

MS Bastø III was delivered in 2005 in conjunction with the second concession period. With a capacity of 212 cars and 540 passengers, she was built at Remontowa Yard in Gdańsk.