Møre og Romsdal Fylkesbåtar
Møre and Romsdal Fylkesbåtar, short form
MRF, is a regional Norwegian transportation company, part of the
Fjord1 Nordvestlandske group. The company headquarters are in
Molde.
MRF is
Norway's largest car ferry company. It employs 900 people, and operates 37 ferries on 27 routes, servicing in total 66 destinations in
Møre og Romsdal county. The company also has five passenger boats running in four routes. In a typical year, MRF transports about 4.5 million cars and over 10 million passengers.
The company was established in
1920 by the merger of a number of local boat services, at that point vital communication links at the road network was scarce in the rugged terrain of
Møre og Romsdal. The company was from the outset owned by the Møre og Romsdal county administration.
During the fifties, sixties and seventies, the company grew along with the general post-
WWII expansion and improvement in Norwegian infrastructure. The bulk of the MRF fleet still consists of ferries from the period 1960-80. During the late 1990's, the company began expanding into other sectors, notably by acquiring a number of local bus companies.
This process culminated in 2002, by the formation of the
Fjord1 Nordvestlandske group, a joint venture with Sogn og Fjordane's
Fylkesbaatane. This merger did not go down undisputed, as it was decided that the conglomerate headquarters should be located in Florø. It was also unpopular that Sogn og Fjordane fylke received a 58% majority share in
Fjord1, thereby effectively seizing control of the company.