Name: Tor Johan Pedersen

Position: SVP Sales & Marketing at Havila Voyages

Age: 49

Zodiac sign: Cancer

Civil status and family: Married to Anita with two sons: Nicholas and Christoffer

Place of birth: Ålesund, Norway

What are your favourite pastime activities?

In addition to spending a lot of time with my family, I am a sports fan and follow football.

What do you love about your job?

New challenges every single day, as well as working to market the world’s most beautiful coastline to the global market.

What music do you like?

I like different types of music, but should I choose a period I will say music from the 80s.

What was your childhood dream job?

Professional football player or air pilot.

What is your favourite dinner and drink combination?

Shellfish with a good glass of beer or wine is never wrong.

Could you briefly introduce yourself and your career path in shipping?

I started my career in the late nineties at Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, in what was an exciting period when the com­pany launched new ships and routes and interest in cruise vacations was growing rapidly in the Nordic countries. I stayed at the company for almost 10 years before I was a founder in 2008 of cruise special­ist WonderCruises which gathered most cruise lines in one place and made it easier for travellers to find the perfect vacation among all the options that the industry had to offer. WonderCruises was later acquired by TUI and I continued my ca­reer at Innovation Norway/Visit Norway with responsibility for the cruise segment. There I worked closely with ports, desti­nations and cruise lines to try to create a sustainable development of cruise traffic.

More recently, I joined Havila Voyages which will start in 2021 with a coastal cruise on the traditional Norwegian coastal route from Bergen to Kirkenes. I have the total sales and marketing respon­sibility and now spend the time building brand, organisation and our distribution.

Eleven ships are required to make daily departures from Bergen to Kirkenes possible with Havila Kystruten providing four ships. Does this mean that there will be a Kystruten departure every second or third day? Are tariffs and sailing schedules regulated?

Havila Voyages has signed a 10-year contract with the Ministry of Transport to operate four of 11 ships on the coastal route. Sailing dates, timetables and a max­imum regulation on prices for local trans­port are determined by the department.

Norway’s coastal express ships have a trans­port function, something that is probably strictly regulated. But how about the cruise part of the business? Can we expect a hefty competition with Hurtigruten and hence a tariff war? Have bookings already started?

In addition to local transport, we will naturally compete with Hurtigruten for cruise passengers, but also other cruise lines that offer cruises along the Norwegian coast. We will basically focus more on the qualities of our own product, which, among other things, will be a world-leader in the environmental aspect and will offer facilities and onboard offers for which we believe there is a good willingness to pay. We have already started advance bookings for groups and we are very satisfied with the booking situation so far.

How will Havila Kystruten differentiate itself from Hurtigruten – what will be the company’s unique selling points?

First and foremost, we will offer a new, environmentally friendly and modern fleet when all our four newbuildings are ready. Our ships will be powered only by LNG and batteries, and by this means reduce emissions massively compared to the situ­ation today. The size of the battery packs will allow us to sail up to four hours only on battery power when in the fjords. We will do this emissions-free and silently!

On board we will offer larger cabins for travellers and a new food concept devel­oped by Gunnar Hvarnes who has just led the Norwegian culinary team to Olympic gold. For local travellers, we offer reclin­ers where they can both work or relax in quiet surroundings. On deck, there will be Jacuzzis and training facilities. We will offer a variety of restaurants and eateries, not to mention different entertainment and lecturers during the seasons. We also care about our staff as each crew member will be accommodated in single cabins. Happy crews make happy guests!

To meet the 1 January 2021 deadline, the order for purpose-built LNG hybrid electric ships was spread over two yards, Tersan Shipyard and Barreras. The double order at the latter yard was eventually cancelled with all four ships to be built by Tersan. Has COVID-19 delayed the delivery of the first two ships? The third and fourth ship are expected to be delivered in late 2021. You are obliged to operate four ships from day one – what ships will be employed in case of late delivery of the first two ships and what ships will be employed until the arrival of the last two ships?

COVID-19 has caused difficult times for tourism, transportation and the cruise industry. It is difficult to say what will be the final effect of everything. Ships one and two are currently more or less on schedule, but there might be a slight delay due to the COVID-19 situation and its development. We are looking at different solutions for alternative ships until all the newbuildings are ready.