Havila, which gained Abta membership this week, had been hoping to take delivery of Havila Polaris late last year, but issues releasing security and debt on its coastal fleet have hampered its expansion plans.
It is now waiting on a licence from Ireland’s central bank, with its application now having overrun the expected 10-day processing time. As a result, Havila has postponed Polaris’s entry into service until 7 April, resulting in the cancellation of its departures from Bergen scheduled for 5 March, 16 March and 27 March.
In addition, work on the line’s fourth vessel, Havila Pollux, at Turkey’s Tersan shipyard has been suspended following the devastating earthquake in the country.
“We were told a processing time of around 10 working days for the licence application, and this deadline has been passed," said Havila managing director Bent Martini. "For the sake of all concerned, we are therefore choosing to postpone start-up on route for Havila Polaris.
"This is very regrettable for our customers, the Norwegian authorities with whom we have an agreement, our partners, the coastal communities and employees. This is a situation and process that [we] are not in control over, and that we need to find a solution to. It requires decisions made without our impact, and we hope for understanding for that."
Customers booked on cancelled departures will be offered the opportunity to switch their booking to a later departures, or onto a departure onboard one of the line’s two operational ships – Havila Capella or Havila Castor. Alternatively, they can request a full refund.
Martini said the process to bring Havila Polaris into service had been "time-consuming and complicated", and vented his own frustrations. "We need to release security and debt on our coastal cruise ships, and do not have the opportunity to take delivery of the completed Havila Polaris before the formalities are arranged”, he said.
"This is a frustrating situation where we can only follow advice from legal advisers and the conclusions reached by courts and many countries’ authorities. The processes have been more time-consuming than both our advisers and we could have predicted, and we can only wait for a clarification."
In addition, earlier this week, Turkey’s Tersan shipyard called force majeure with regards to the completion of Havila Pollux, with delivery now postponed until the end of April. Havila is aiming to bring Pollux into service for its first round-trip on 27 May.
"The devastating earthquake disaster in Turkey and Syria has hit hard, and at the Tersan shipyard a large number of shipyard workers, and many who work with Havila Pollux, have traveled to assist in the disaster areas”, said Martini. “We fully understand the situation Tersan is in as a result of this and have great sympathy for everyone affected after this tragic natural disaster."
