On Friday 22nd of April, Havila Voyages took delivery of its second ship, Havila Castor, at the Tersan shipyard in Turkey. Havila Castor will start sailing the coastal route Bergen – Kirkenes on Tuesday 10th of May.
Chairman of the board and main shareholder Per Sævik was involved in the official takeover of the yard in Turkey.
“It is always extra special to be part of the delivery of new ships. She is a great sight that we look forward to seeing along the Norwegian coast”, says Sævik.
Bent Martini, CEO of Havila Voyages, talks about great joy after some challenging Easter days with a canceled round trip for the sister ship Havila Capella.
“This is a big day for our shipping company, and now we are ready to get Havila Castor home to Norway to be put into service on Tuesday 10th of May”, Martini says.
Mehmet Gazioğlu, CEO of the Tersan shipyard, has also been looking forward to this day.
“At Tersan Shipyard, we are so proud to deliver the second vessel of the series; Havila Castor to Havila Voyages which represents our reliability, quality and solution-oriented approach. While the flag ship Havila Capella which is awarded as the “Next Generation Ship Award” is carrying Tersan Shipyard’s name along the Norwegian shores, Havila Castor will soon accompany her to share this pride”, Gazioğlu says.
“It is also a great pleasure for Tersan Shipyard to share our valuable partner Havila Voyages` excitement to introduce the passengers travelling on the historical route between Bergen and Kirkenes with top quality service. Thanks to Havila Voyages` trust in Tersan; we will work hard to proceed with the construction of the third and fourth vessels, Havila Polaris and Havila Pollux.”
The ship of the future
In the beginning of April, the sister ship Havila Capella was awarded the “Next Generation Ship Award” during the Nor-Shipping event outside Oslo.
“Since the ships are identical, Havila Castor has the same assets as Havila Capella. Among other things this means that the ships will be the first ships that can sail emission-free, at the same time as we are already sailing more environmentally friendly than has ever been done along the Norwegian coast. Havila Castor is clearly also the ship of the future”, Martini explains.
The battery pack on board the Havila Castor weighs a full 86 tons and has an output of 6.1 megawatts. The ship can sail up to 4 hours on pure battery power, completely emission-free. In addition, the ship runs on liquefied natural gas (LNG), which reduces CO2 emissions by around 25 % and NOx emissions by up to 90 %. This makes Havila Voyages` ships the most environmentally friendly ships sailing the coastal route.
The ships are also built to run on the fuel of the future. Liquid biogas (LBG) can basically be used immediately and mixed into the LNG tank. In addition, the systems on board are prepared to use hydrogen or ammonia as fuel in the future.
“We have a clear goal of using liquid biogas as soon as we can. It all boils down to both cost and not least availability. We are ready to contribute to even less emissions from our sailings”, Martini concludes.
