Podcast
Next week, Hurtigruten will start the first expedition ship to Norway from Hamburg after the forced Corona break. The Norwegian shipping company reports record bookings for 2022 – and, according to CEO Daniel Skjeldam, wants to accelerate the pace of sustainability.
After a long break, it starts again: The coming week will be the “Otto Sverdrup” start in Hamburg in the Norwegian fjords, for Hurtigruten it is an important restart of its expedition ships. “We are all very excited and the employees are incredibly happy”says Daniel Skjeldam, head of the Norwegian shipping company, “The time was extremely challenging for our industry.” But customers would really be hungry for new experiences and trips.
Hurtigruten was one of the few providers that had at least a few post ships in use during the pandemic – which were essential for the connections in Norway. The cruises were interrupted, as was the case with the major providers Carnival, Royal Caribbean or MSC Cruises.
The Norwegian specialist provider, whose mail ships have been in service since 1893, is almost euphoric when it comes to the views. Business had been going on since the summer “pretty good”, Skjeldam reports: “We are now experiencing that people really want to travel again. The presale numbers for 2022 are at a record high.” In his opinion, the rather small ships compared to other providers will be particularly in demand. After the pandemic, customers would be there “will feel much more comfortable than on a very large ship with thousands of people”.
“Customers don’t want that anymore”
When it comes to the mega-topic of the environment, Skjeldam is also pushing the pace. “The cruise industry should have done more for sustainability much earlier”says Skjeldam, who joined Norwegian airline in 2012 and became Norway’s youngest CEO. You shouldn’t use ships to pollute the places you visit. Hurtigruten has banned heavy fuel oil since 2008 and is now relying on hybrid drives with batteries and biodiesel. “The cruise lines that don’t take CO2 emissions seriously will sooner or later disappear from the market”said Skjeldam. Customers didn’t want that anymore. “Our first zero-emission ship will be on the market before 2030.”
It’s not the first time the almost 130-year-old company has had to reinvent itself: when Skjeldam became CEO, Hurtigruten had been making losses for decades. The service was bad, the morale of the teams on the ground. Skjeldam cut costs, improved service – and made Hurtigruten a successful brand in a niche “Boutique ships” puts. It is no longer just trips through fjords – the Norwegians head for destinations in Africa and the Caribbean, and the Galapagos Islands have been on offer since June.
Listen in
- Whether Skjeldam sometimes works on Hurtigruten’s ships himself
- What advice he can give young CEOs
- Which are the favorite travel destinations of Hurtigruten’s German customers
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Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
