– Sorry for all of Norway – VG

– Dear all. On behalf of the Hurtigruten board of directors, I’ll start by saying: I’m sorry. Apologies to the passengers, crew, authorities and medical attention. And to Tromsø. I want to apologize to all of Norway, says Stordalen.

On Thursday, the investigative report on the exits came on July 17 and 24. He concludes that Hurtigruten should never have traveled on the first trip on July 17 and believes that various members of the company have made several incorrect assessments.

– Many have become angry and frustrated. I have been too, says Stordalen.

At the same time, he, as Chairman of the Trygve Hegnar Board of Directors, declares full confidence in Chief Executive Officer Daniel Skjeldam.

– At the board we have no doubt that Daniel Skjeldam is the right person to lead Hurtigruten through this crisis and he has our confidence.

Is beaten

Attorney Jan Fougner has led the Hurtigruten investigation. Briefly summarize:

– There are many here who have been wrong.

These are the main conclusions of the report:

• Hurtigruten Cruise AS’s risk management process has been insufficient.
• Hurtigruten did not implement enough risk reduction measures to test foreign crews in Norway prior to enlistment.
• The quarantine rules were practiced incorrectly.
• Suspicion of infection was not followed up during travel and COVID-19 testing was not done on time.
• When Hurtigruten received positive test results on July 31, it was some time before the crisis management system was implemented.

– The EM Roald Amundsen outbreak was not due to a single incident or the actions of an individual. The situation arose as a result of a series of incidents and actions, Fougner says.

I wanted to test the crew, I dropped it

One of the report’s findings is that a Filipino doctor wanted to crown the crew aboard Hurtigruten’s first voyage on July 21, where the virus infection was later detected.

However, after consulting with a Norwegian doctor, it was dropped. Fougner believes it was an error in judgment.

– Needless to say, it was an error in judgment. That’s an odd assessment, he says.

He believes the doctor was likely related to a “pre-COVID-19 situation.”

– Our assessment is that it is an experienced adult Norwegian doctor who assesses this perhaps from a pre-crown situation, where one third of the crew on board a ship at all times have mild respiratory symptoms.

Appeared free of infection – was not

On the second voyage, there were two positive results even before the MS Roald Amundsen docked in Tromsø on July 31.

FHI is not notified and only discovers it the same day.

– While this is happening, there are four crew members in isolation with fever and cough, says Fougner.

He calls it a “disaster” that Hurtigruten delivered such a belated message.

– We can say that the ship enters Tromsø with covid infection, sails, acts as if it is clean, but it is not, says Fougner.

Another of the investigators’ findings is that the quarantine regulations at Hurtigruten were interpreted and handled by a qualified chef, and not an attorney. The investigation was carried out by the law firm Wiersholm and DNV GL.

Trust Skjeldam

– It is obvious that there has been a failure in the systems. The risk work has been too poor, the standards have not been met. There are many things that have brought us to the point where we have now reached, says Hurtigruten Group Chairman of the Board, Trygve Hegnar.

He calls the situation “boring” and regrets that it has had consequences for passengers and employees. However, she believes that CEO Skjeldam is the right man to run the company.

– He is an excellent man, who has implemented measures and we believe that he can ensure that confidence in the company is restored, says Hegnar.

– We believe that Daniel Skjeldam, with his others in senior management, with the employees and with the union will do a good job in the future.

Skjeldam himself apologizes on behalf of the company for the handling of the case by the company.

– The outbreak of infection in MS Roald Amundsen was a serious incident. What the report describes is not good enough. This is not how Hurtigruten should be. I want to apologize for failing. We should handle the quarantine for foreign crews differently. We should have followed the suspicion of infection and implemented measures earlier. We should have informed ourselves earlier. As CEO of the group, I take responsibility for what happened, says Hurtigruten CEO Daniel Skjeldam.

He and Hegnar both say there will be no management changes at this time as a result of the report.

71 infected

A total of 71 people in the crew and passengers have been diagnosed with corona infection after two trips with MS “Roald Amundsen”.

Hurtigruten has previously been criticized for failing to notify passengers until two days after they learned of the infection on board.

Hurtigruten’s chief operating officer, Bent Martini, who was aboard the MS ‘Roald Amundsen’, has temporarily left Hurtigruten’s management while the company is investigated.

Several are investigating the outbreak

Troms police are investigating Hurtigruten to clarify whether the company or people on board may have violated the infection control provisions of the Penal Code or the Infection Control Act.

The police have conducted interrogations and he is going through electronic communication. The investigation is ongoing.

Plus The Troms and Finnmark County Governor has opened a supervisory case against two of the doctors on the Hurtigruten cruise ship MS “Roald Amundsen” and the Norwegian Maritime Directorate has announced that they are investigating what happened.