Stena is buying Color Line: what it means if you drive to Norway

Stena AB, the Swedish group behind Stena Line, has signed an agreement to buy Color Line, the Norwegian company that runs the Kiel to Oslo ferry and three shorter routes into Norway from Denmark and Sweden. The deal was announced on 26 October 2026 and still needs regulatory approval. For anyone driving to Norway from Britain, the two names already sit on the same map: Stena Line gets you from Harwich to Hook of Holland, Color Line gets you from Kiel to Oslo.

Most ferry takeovers are a footnote unless you hold the shares. This one is different, because it touches the question we get more than any other about Norway: how do I get my own car or motorhome there now that nobody sails there from the UK? Color Line is a big part of the answer, and from 2027 it will belong to the company that also sells your North Sea crossing.

What has been agreed, and what has not

The buyer is Stena Rederi AB, a subsidiary of Stena AB, so technically it is the group and not Stena Line itself that is buying. The seller is ONS Invest II AS, the holding company of Olav Nils Sunde and his family, Color Line’s long-time owners. The price has not been disclosed. Completion is expected towards the end of the first quarter or during the second quarter of 2027, once the competition authorities have had their say.

Stena says Color Line will carry on as a separate company and brand, with its own management in Norway and ships that stay on the Norwegian register. Sailings and existing bookings are not affected. Color Line chief executive Trond Kleivdal put it this way in the announcement: “Color Line is one of the most recognized and valued brands in our industry, and Stena wants to preserve these strengths.” In plain terms: do not expect the Color Fantasy to turn up in Stena white and blue any time soon.

And to clear up the other obvious question: there is no new UK to Norway passenger route in this announcement. The direct ferry remains the crossing our readers want back more than any other, which is exactly what our 2026 survey showed, and the Newcastle to Norway plans run on a separate track with other people behind them.

Some context on size, because it explains why Stena wants this. Color Line carried close to 3.6 million passengers in 2025 with five ships on four routes, and turned over more than NOK 6.7 billion. Stena Line runs 40 ships on 19 routes. There is a bit of history here too. Stena Line sailed between Oslo and Frederikshavn for more than forty years and pulled the plug in March 2020, in the first week of the pandemic. Six years later it is buying its way back into Oslo through the front door.

Why it matters if you drive to Norway

The route British drivers use most is nothing new: take the Stena Line ferry from Harwich to Hook of Holland, drive around 550 kilometres to Kiel, and sail overnight to Oslo. What changes with this deal is that both sea legs end up in one group. That is all it changes for now, but it is the first time since the Newcastle to Bergen days that one owner has held both ends of a journey from Britain to Norway.

The map shows the journey: Stena Line in blue from Harwich, the drive to Kiel in grey, Color Line in red from Kiel to Oslo. The thinner red lines are Color Line’s other routes. Click a port for sailing times.

If you have read our guide to getting to Norway by ferry from the UK, you will know Color Line’s network. It runs four routes:

• Kiel to Oslo: the overnight cruise ferry from northern Germany, departing 14:00 and arriving in Oslo at 10:00 the next morning. A cabin is compulsory on this route.
• Hirtshals to Kristiansand: the fast crossing from the top of Denmark into southern Norway.
• Hirtshals to Larvik: a slightly longer alternative that lands you closer to Oslo.
• Sandefjord to Strömstad: the short hop between Norway and Sweden.

For British drivers the Kiel ferry is the interesting one: you spend a night on board instead of pushing on through Denmark. The Hirtshals crossings suit people who want to stop in Denmark on the way, or who turn it into a round trip, out via Kiel and home via Kristiansand. Our page on ferries from Denmark to Norway has the details, including the Fjord Line competition on the same quay.

Planning it: give yourself a night in between

One warning, because the timetable tempts you into a mistake. The night boat from Harwich docks in Hook of Holland around 08:00 and the Oslo ferry leaves Kiel at 14:00. On paper that is six hours for a six-hour drive. In practice you have disembarkation, Dutch and German motorway traffic and a check-in deadline at Kiel, and if anything slips you are watching the Color Fantasy leave without you, with a cabin paid for. We would not chain the two on the same day. Take the day sailing instead, sleep somewhere around Bremen or Hamburg, and roll into Kiel after lunch with time for a coffee at the terminal. Always check the current sailing times with both operators before you fix the dates.

A word on the Harwich leg from my own crossing on the Stena Britannica. It is a clean, well-kept ship, but it is a ferry rather than a floating hotel: on the night sailing the shop was shut, the basketball court dark and the evening consisted of a late dinner and a drink at the bar. The alarm call comes very early. Treat it as transport, save the holiday feeling for the Oslo boat, which is built for exactly that, with two shows a night, a spa and a 20-hour crossing to enjoy them.

What it costs: one worked example

Take a family of four with a normal car, one way. Color Line’s own price example for Kiel to Oslo is from 155 euros per person per leg for four passengers, a car of up to five metres and a shared standard inside cabin, so about 620 euros, roughly 540 pounds at current rates, before you pick a nicer cabin or a July date. Book the return at the same time and the car gets at least 10 percent off on the way back. Stena Line’s Harwich to Hook of Holland fares start at 93.50 pounds for a car and driver; with three passengers and a cabin in summer you will pay several times that. For reference, we paid about 380 pounds for ours in October 2024, with two cabins. Put the two legs together and a summer one-way for a family lands somewhere around 900 to 1,000 pounds, give or take the cabin you choose. Not cheap, but the Oslo night replaces a hotel and a long day in Denmark.

The alternative via Hirtshals means around 850 kilometres from Hook of Holland instead of 550, then a crossing of a few hours. It is the better buy when the Danish-route operators run their fill-the-car offers, and the better plan if Kristiansand and the south coast are your destination rather than Oslo. Our Netherlands to Norway page compares the options from the Dutch side.

Could a combined UK to Norway ticket follow?

This is the question we would love to see answered, and we have put it to Stena Line’s press office: will Kiel to Oslo become bookable through stenaline.co.uk, and is a through fare from Harwich on the table? We will add the answer here when it comes. One booking covering both crossings, with sensible advice on the drive in between, would make a Norwegian road trip a lot easier to put together. Nothing of the sort has been announced. The deal statement talks about decarbonisation, digitalisation and customer service, not about through tickets, and shared ownership does not mean one carrier, one booking or any protection if you miss the second ship. Treat it as a nice idea for 2027 or later, not something to plan around today.

Our take

For travellers this is good news as long as Stena keeps its promise about the brand. Color Line does the overnight cruise ferry better than almost anyone in northern Europe, and a bigger, well-funded owner is more likely to keep investing in those ships than to cut back. What we will be watching is the 2027 summer timetable, the first one published under Stena ownership, and whether the two booking systems start talking to each other.

Published 26 October 2026. Sources: the official announcement by Stena AB and Stena Line (26 October 2026), Color Line’s route pages and price examples, Stena Line, Shippax and Bussmagasinet. Prices quoted are operator from-fares on 26 October 2026 and change by date and season. The acquisition remains subject to regulatory approval.