During dinner on the third day in the Havrand restaurant on board the “Havila Polaris”, the announcement is initially made in Norwegian with the keyword “Nordlys”. The majority immediately drop their knives and forks and storm onto the panoramic deck. The call of the Northern Lights makes the main course cold.
Whether with or without a jacket, but armed with cell phones and cameras, the passengers stare at the sky on the icy deck. The lights of a fishing village can only be seen in the distance, and a lighthouse flashes on the starboard side. Only after a few minutes your eyes have adjusted to the darkness do stars and delicate veils of light become visible.
Light plays in the winter sky
The Northern Lights come out of nowhere and shimmer more or less intensely, changing colors from light green to turquoise to deep blue. Some constantly changing shapes seem like a genie emerging from the bottle. However, the digital screens of cameras and cell phones reproduce the appearance much more intensely than in reality.
The northern lights are also called “Aurora borealis” in Latin. The phenomenon occurs in the polar regions when electrically charged particles from the solar wind hit the upper layers of the Earth’s atmosphere. There they particularly stimulate oxygen and nitrogen molecules to glow.
For many people, the Northern Lights are the main motif of a winter trip by mailboat. Among the 200 passengers there are tourists from China, Australia, South Africa and a family with children from the United States who can’t help but be amazed.
The revolutionary hybrid drive of the Havila fleet
It’s the quiet moments that make this winter trip so unique. When the ship glides through the snowy coastal landscape, whether at night in the moonlight of the much brighter polar nights or during the day. Since the captains always choose a route that winds through groups of islands, there is always something to see on both starboard and port side; also sitting in the warmth, with a view through the floor-to-ceiling windows in the lounges on decks 6 and 9.
The ship’s low-vibration drive also contributes to the sometimes silent sailing through the water. The two Azipull propellers under the stern, which can be rotated through 360 degrees, and the bow thrusters take on the drive and control function and draw their energy from accumulators the size of a wardrobe or directly from the generators.
Electricity is no longer generated with diesel, but with liquefied natural gas (LNG), which was previously warmed up into the gaseous state with electrical assistance. Thanks to the battery packs with a capacity of 6.1 megawatt hours, all Havila ships can operate exclusively on batteries for up to four hours, which has already been put into practice in the UNESCO World Heritage area of Geirangerfjord, which will only be allowed to be sailed by emission-free ships from 2026 .
In the youngest Cruise ship ranking 2023 According to the German environmental organization Nabu, the provider Havila immediately came in first place thanks to the combination of battery power for port calls and LNG.
Havila Voyages also relies on the increased addition of biogas produced in Norway from fishing waste and would like to achieve climate neutrality of the fleet by 2028. Due to the 50 percent lower CO2 emissions and the 80 percent reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions, passengers are already feeling a little guilty.
Further information
Prices for two people sharing an inside cabin: Kirkenes-Bergen in 6 days from 641 euros, Bergen-Kirkenes-Bergen in 12 days from 1232 euros per person.
Also read:
Frost, fjords and northern lights: With the mail ship beyond the Arctic Circle
“MS Roald Amundsen”: This is what the world’s first hybrid expedition ship looks like
Hybrid on the Rhine: This is what the most innovative river ship in Europe looks like