Havila Voyages has tkaen delivery of its second ship, Havila Castor, at the Tersan shipyard in Turkey.
The Havila Castor will start sailing the coastal route Bergen – Kirkenes on Tuesday May 10.
“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,” said Chairman of the Board and Main Shareholder Per Sævik.
Bent Martini, CEO of Havila Voyages, talked 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 May 10,” he said.
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,” added Gazioğlu.
“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.,” he said.
The Havila Castor is identical to its sister ship, Havila Capella, which the company took delivery of in November 2021.
According to a press release the Havila Castor has a market value of around NOK 1.2 billion and is financed with equity and a loan of EUR 46 million from Tersan shipyard and the shipyard’s bank. The loan is for a period of three months. The company had previously run into issues due to Russian sanctions on previous financing deals.
“This solution gives us time to find a proper refinancing of the ship, at the same time as it means that our company owns the ship from this date,” Martini said.
The initial financing of Havila Castor could not be carried out. The leasing company’s lack of financing of the delivery term has resulted in Havila Kystruten being referred to take over the ship by means of alternative financing.
“The solution also means that GTLK has no security in Havila Castor, and the result is that our shipping company owns the ship 100 % from today’s date,” Martini explained.
Havila Castor is owned by the company HK Ship V AS – a 100 percent owned subsidiary of Havila Kystruten Operations AS.
Martini stated that Havila Voyages is already in the process of refinancing Havila Castor and the two remaining ships that will be delivered later this year, as well as Havila Capella.
“The largest challenge is of course Havila Capella since we lease it from GTLK Asia, which is now sanctioned. We work with solutions here as well, to cut all ties to Russian and sanctioned companies,” he said.
