Press release -
Havila Pollux back in route
The coastal cruise ship Havila Pollux is resuming its route from Trondheim on Tuesday, November 7th. Havila Voyages has also conducted new emission measurements and has reported a 37% reduction in CO2 emissions on their ships.
Since October 31st, Havila Pollux has been undergoing warranty work at Fosen Shipyard and had one of her electric motors replaced. The work is now completed, and the ship will resume its southbound route from Trondheim tomorrow, Tuesday, November 7th.
“When we initially experienced technical issues with one of the electric motors, we were pleased that Fosen Shipyard could accommodate us at such short notice. Together with our partners and our own staff, a tremendous effort has been made to get Havila Pollux back on track, and we are delighted to be able to resume our voyage along the coastal route tomorrow," says CEO Bent Martini.
Of those passengers whose journeys with Havila Pollux were disrupted last week, some chose to transfer their trips to one of Havila Voyages’ other ships or to the upcoming round trip with Havila Pollux starting from Bergen on Wednesday, November 8th.
Significant CO2 reduction
Despite the cancellation of the previous round trip for Havila Pollux, there have been very few technical deviations for Havila Voyages throughout 2023, with an operational stability rate of over 99%.
“We are very pleased with such high operational stability along the Norwegian coast. Our mission is to provide safe and stable operations on the coastal route, and we are pleased to say that we are delivering on that," says Martini.
Havila Voyages also measures its emissions and onboard food waste continuously.
“New measurements we have conducted show that we are reducing our CO2 emissions by 37% compared to if we were operating the ships with traditional fossil fuels. In addition, we have reduced our local emissions, NOx, and SOx by over 90%. Naturally, we are very pleased with this," Martini explains.
Havila Voyages has also received full funding from the NOx Fund due to its emissions reductions.
“We have new and modern ships, built for the future and designed to contribute to reducing emissions in shipping. These figures show that we are on the right track, and we look forward to continuing our work to further reduce our footprint, including gradually incorporating biogas," says Martini.
Additionally, Havila Voyages has so far this year achieved a food waste rate of only 69 grams per person per day on its ships. The company has achieved this, among other things, by not offering buffet service onboard.
“Our ambition was to achieve a maximum of 75 grams of food waste per person per day onboard. We surpass this by a large margin, and we will reduce our food waste by well over 60 tons per year now that we have four ships in full operation. Economically good for us and good for the environment. An excellent effort from all our onboard staff, and the fact that our passengers see the value and utility of a unique food concept contributes to our success in this area," Martini explains.
Havila Voyages continues to receive positive feedback from its passengers regarding all four ships on the coastal route. They are seeing strong demand for bookings in the fourth quarter of 2023, and the company has already achieved 50% of its booking target for 2024.
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The Havila Voyages is a Norwegian shipping company that sails the classic coastal voyage between Bergen and Kirkenes with the Norwegian coast's most environmentally friendly ships.
The four new ships are loaded with the world's largest battery pack, and can sail for four hours without noise or emissions through vulnerable fjords. The batteries are charged with clean hydropower at shore, and when the batteries are low we switch to natural gas which cuts CO2 by around 25 %.
The hull is specially designed for maximum energy efficiency, and excess heat from cooling water and sea used for heating on board. On the menu are locally made dishes from local producers, and all unnecessary plastic is avoided. We are already exceeding the authorities' requirements for cutting emission, and we have set sail with zero emissions as the future target.
The Havila Voyages is part of the Havila Group that dates back to the 1950s. It all started when the founder, Per Sævik, bought his first fishing boat in his teens. From fishing and herring fishing, Havila is now a group operating in shipping technology, offshore, transport and tourism.
