Havila Voyages cancels Pollux sailing due to ‘unforeseen malfunction’
Havila Voyages has been forced to cancel another sailing on board Havila Pollux after an “unforeseen malfunction” was discovered with the vessel’s motor
The vessel was slated to depart on a round-trip itinerary from Bergen on Monday (13 May) following its naming ceremony on the same day, which will go ahead as planned.
Since 2 May, Pollux has been docked at Bontelabo in the Norwegian city for warranty work, after a motor which powers the propeller system needed to be replaced.
Over the past few days, testing of the new system has been conducted which revealed an “unforeseen malfunction” in a bearing in the underwater housing of one of the propellers.
“Naturally, this is very disappointing for all our passengers who were looking forward to a unique experience along the Norwegian coast, and it is a situation we would have preferred to avoid,” said CEO Bent Martini.
“This is a situation beyond our control, and the malfunction was only discovered during the recent testing here in Bergen. It is not safe to operate the ship with this malfunction, and it needs to be rectified.”
Havila Voyages to place Pollux in dry dock
On Monday evening (13 May), the ship will sail to GMC in Stavanger to be placed in dry dock to replace the underwater housing of the propeller, which, according to the line, will take four-five days.
“After which we must conduct thorough testing before we can return Havila Pollux to service,” added Martini. “Once we finish the repairs and the necessary testing, we will know more, and the plan is for Havila Pollux to be back in service from Bergen by no later than May 24th.”
It’s not the first time the line has been forced to delay an itinerary due to technical problems. In December 2023, a problem was discovered on board coastal cruise ship Havila Castor, which led to the delay of a sailing.
Prior to that, Havila cancelled a northern Europe itinerary on board Pollux after the vessel encountered technical problems en route to Trondheim.
