The first two of the new coastal ships currently being built for Havila Kystruten - Havila Castor and Havila Capella, were launched at Turkey's Tersan Shipyard despite delays caused by the pandemic over the past 6 months.
To overcome the challenges and expedite the building process, Tersan Shipyard continued to construct the vessels on land for longer than normal, allowing the team to streamline a number of tasks.
Originally, the newbuilds were scheduled to commence service on the coastal route between Bergen-Kirkenes in Norway on January 1, 2021, but delivery is now expected to be delayed until the first quarter of the next year.
Havila Voyages received approval to operate a pair of replacement ships from January 1 until the newbuilds are ready to enter service. However, the company is evaluating current travel restrictions in order to determine whether it needs to provide the capacity on this route.
Once in service, Castor and Capella will be the most environmentally friendly vessels on the route between Bergen-Kirkenes, with LNG-powered propulsion systems to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 25% compared to traditional propulsion solutions. The vessels will boast the world’s largest battery packs, which is due to enable them to sail with zero emissions for up to 4 hours.