Press release -
Ruling in favour of Havila Voyages
Havila Voyages (Havila Kystruten AS) has received a ruling from a hearing in the "High Court of Justice" in London yesterday afternoon. This is in relation to rights and securities that subsidiaries of the Russian leasing company GTLK have attached to the two ships Havila Polaris and Havila Pollux, which are being completed at the Tersan shipyard in Turkey.
The ruling states that the debt Havila Voyages has to GTLK in connection with the construction financing and the planned leasing financing of completed ships will be released by settlement. The settlement of debt to GTLK takes place by payment to a frozen account in accordance with the sanctioning regulations.
“This is a good clarification for us, and states that we have the full right to take over Havila Polaris and eventually Havila Pollux, at the same time that we get to settle Havila Capella”, says managing director Bent Martini.
“We have been through a demanding period with a lot of uncertainty which has affected progress on the delivery of Havila Polaris, but we are happy that a decision has now been made”.
Havila Voyages has postponed the delivery of Havila Polaris pending the hearing in London and the court order. The ship will now be delivered to the shipping company over the weekend and will sail home to Norway as soon as possible.
“It’s starting to become time-critical to get the start-up on schedule on 29thof December, but we turned around Havila Castor in Bergen in 5 days and can do it again. At the same time, it will have to happen over the Christmas period, and we are dependent on our suppliers to finish the work on Havila Polaris when she has returned home”, says Martini.
“We now need some time to find out where we stand and how much we will be able to do in Bergen after the ship arrives there and will give an update on when Havila Polaris will start operations along the Norwegian coast as soon as is possible”, he concludes.
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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.
