A few months ago we found out that Norway’s Hurtigruten was going to be partially replaced by a new startup Havila Kystruten. This was going to require them to build the four ships they are now contracted for as they currently do not own, operate, or manage any passenger vessels.
They have just announced that they have entered into an agreement with Spain’s Barreras Yard in Vigo. The contract is for two of the four vessels. The price will be $235 million each. The ships will carry 700pax and be LNG powered.
Norwegian yards, to which there are plenty of availability at, were estimated to be in the forefront given that they had the ‘home field advantage’ however it now appears that none of the newbuilds will be built in Norway.
It’s pretty surprising that no ships will be constructed in Norway now. I had conjectured that the reason for splitting up Hurtigruten was to give more business to Norwegian yards, but that’s obviously not the case now. All of Hurtigruten’s ships, except for three, were built in Norway.