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UKRAINE

Norwegian cruise line cancels tour over Russia sanctions

Norway's Havila Voyages said on Thursday it was finally cancelling a scheduled cruise, after being delayed in port for two days, due to uncertainties about how the ship was impacted by sanctions on Russia.

Illustration photo of a Norwegian cruise ship.
Illustration photo of a Norwegian cruise ship. Photo: Erika SANTELICES / AFP

About 230 passengers had been stranded in the port of Bergen in southwest Norway after boarding the Havila Capilla for a 12-day cruise that was meant to depart on Tuesday night.

“They’ve spent two nights on the ship at quay, so they were treated as they would have been during the sailing with food and service,” Lasse Vangstein, head of communications at Havila Voyages, told AFP.

The trip was initially delayed “due to an uncertainty related to insurance coverage,” the company said late Tuesday, as a “result of sanctions against the leasing company that has financed Havila Capella.”

“Havila Capella is financed via a leasing agreement with GTLK Asia, which was put on the EU sanction list last Friday,” Vangstein explained.

GTLK Asia is a Hong Kong-based but Russian-owned leasing company. Most passengers stayed onboard while the company tried to work out whether how it would be affected by sanctions as it was running a Norwegian flag, with a Norwegian crew and a Norwegian operating company.

“Originally, we had 232 passengers that were set to depart Bergen on April 12. Mostly Norwegians and Germans, but also other nationalities like people from the UK, Greece, Austria, Netherlands, Switzerland, Finland, France, Mexico, Denmark, and Sweden,” Vangstein said.

According to the company it had originally been told that the ship should not be affected by the adopted sanctions since Havila Voyages was “responsible for the operation and financing of the ship”.

But it said on Thursday that it was the “Norwegian authorities’ assessment that the ship’s insurance is affected by sanctions against the leasing company,” meaning the trip would be cancelled.

Havilia Voyages said it would “now look at solutions to get Havila Capella back into operation as soon as possible.”

While Norway is not a member of the EU, it has adopted almost all the sanctions imposed by the union.

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UKRAINE

Norway gives $103m to Ukraine to secure electricity

Norway said Sunday that it would provide 1.1 billion kroner ($103 million) to Ukraine to help repair its energy infrastructure and secure the country's electricity supply before next winter.

Norway gives $103m to Ukraine to secure electricity

“Russia is carrying out massive, systematic attacks to paralyse the power grid, but Ukrainians are working day and night to maintain essential electricity supplies for the population,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said in a statement.

According to new estimates, more than 50 percent of Ukraine’s power production capacity has been destroyed, the government said.

“We are in close dialogue with Ukraine on how it can use these funds most effectively. The Ukrainians themselves have the best insight into what is needed,” Store said, adding that it was important to begin infrastructure repairs before the onset of winter.

Norway said it had already been decided that 120 million kroner would go toward repairs in the Kharkiv area, which has been hit particularly hard by Russian attacks recently.

Solar panels will be installed at seven maternity units and operating theatres in the Kharkiv area, Store said in the statement, which was issued as he attended a Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland.

In 2022, Norway provided 2.1 billion kroner in funding to the Ukrainian energy sector, and 1.9 billion kroner last year.

The Scandinavian country has pledged 75 billion kroner in military and civilian aid to Ukraine for the five-year period 2023-2027, with funding allocated each year in line with Ukraine’s needs.

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