In a decision made by Norway's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on April 26th, it became known they had granted Havila Voyages an exemption from the sanctions regulations to operate the Havila Capella cruiseferry for 6 months.
The exemption didn't entail any right to insure the vessel and on Monday, May 9, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected the application of the shipping company to take out insurance on the grounds that "being able to take out insurance in itself would mean that a property is made available to the registered owner."
CEO Bent Martini said:
“This is very disappointing and means that we still have an unresolved situation for Havila Capella. Based on this, we have no choice but to cancel Havila Capella’s next roundtrip along the Norwegian coast, which was scheduled to start in Bergen on 15th of May.
“We are very sorry for the situation that has arisen beyond our control, and for the consequences this means for the coastal population, our passengers, employees and suppliers.”
Martini added that Havila Kystruten was confused by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ assessment. He said that as the sanctions were set up, any insurance payment would not benefit the ship’s registered owner. In the event of a total loss, other parties would receive the insurance payment.
"We can do nothing but accept the authorities’ assessment, but disagree with the decision.”
Havila Kystruten will continue the work of finding a solution to get Havila Capella back in traffic.
Passengers booked on the next roundtrip will be offered to rebook their tickets to sailing with Havila Castor, or a full refund of the tickets.
Capella’s sistership Castor sails as scheduled from Bergen.