Go whale safaris without making money and hire new ones despite the collapse of the crown – E24

– I love being at sea, being around the elements and photographing, says Daniel John Benton.

Skotten works as a computer programmer in Tromsø and is an avid amateur photographer. On a whale safari on the Bard tour boat, Benton brought a camera with a half-meter long telephoto lens to take pictures of humpback whales and orcas.

– It’s fun to see humpback whales and killer whales in such a beautiful landscape in such a special light, he says.

It is eight o’clock on a black night when the purpose-built hybrid ship Bard leaves the port of Tromsø with 23 tourists on board.

When the Brim company launched an eco-friendly whale safari last fall, it was an immediate success, and the boats were fully loaded with 150 passengers on each trip.

But when the pandemic shut out tourists, revenue was cut in half.

– It’s been a special year, says boss Kristian Hansen, who, like the company’s 25 employees, has been partially laid off most of the year.

I work with lights out

What saves the company are two types of tourists: several local Norwegians and many foreign workers in Norway.

This means that the company, despite the corona crisis, is hiring a new engineer to increase activity next year, when the pandemic is expected to come to an end.

– We are recruiting machinists now. We’re going for half a machine and will begin expanded operations in the spring. We plan the full operation starting in May, with trips from Tromsø, Lofoten and Svalbard, says Espen Larsen-Hakkebo, the company’s founder and interim CEO.

He’s 50 percent laid off himself.

– We keep the wheels turning. We make a small loss to keep our employees working. And the boats are cheap to operate, so it costs next to nothing more than leaving them at the dock, he adds.

Bard is the only ship at sea this day, most of the other companies have docked the ships. An hour’s drive north, Captain Hansen searches for whales. South of Skjervøy he sees the wind and the fins of a group of humpback whales and leaves the boat still some distance away, so as not to disturb the animals.

– That’s why I took this job, to get so close to nature and wildlife, says Hansen.

Christmas Halibut to Look For

On the radar, Hansen sees a famous fishing boat approaching. It’s the Skagøy skate from the fishing village of Oldervik, where Hansen grew up.

There he went out to sea as a child in the fishing boats of his father, grandfather and uncles, and now Uncle Jan Ivar Hansen comes with a large halibut on board.

He communicates with his uncle on the ship’s radio and asks if the fishing boat can show tourists the catch.

– Yes, they lift the halibut on the crane. They have three or four large halibut, they weigh around 40 kilos. Passengers will number in the hundreds when they see, Hansen says.

– I have been involved since the launch last fall, and what I like the most is seeing the joy that the passengers receive and seeing that they get off the ship with a smile on their lips. We can see whales on every trip, he adds.

The company is one of the few that has boats large enough to be able to follow the rule of one meter distance between passengers. They have gone from a maximum of 150 to a maximum of 50 passengers.

Although the company does not make money from downsizing, entrepreneur Larsen-Hakkebo believes and hopes that it will pay off in the long run to be in the market.

– We know he’s recovering again. This summer we went to zero. Now it seems a little darker and we are facing a long winter. But we want as many people as possible at work, so that we are ready as soon as things improve when borders open.

Believe in better times despite losing billions

The company budgeted NOK 45 million this year for the first full year of operation, but ends up with around NOK 20 million. The proceeds now cover the operations, but not the loan installments of the newly built hybrid boats.

The entrepreneur still believes in better times. The tourism industry in Tromsø has grown strongly in recent years and had a turnover of NOK 2.5 billion last year before the pandemic broke out. This year, the city’s industry has lost around two billion crowns and several tourism businesses have been closed.

– Tromsø is still very popular. I think that in the long run it benefits us to persevere now and be present in the market. The funny thing is that we have more local people than before who travel. About half of the tourists are foreigners living in Norway, says Larsen-Hakkebo.

Tourists go on deck to take pictures in the few hours that there is daylight in the dark, before the ship returns to Tromsø. Some people struggle to get their smartphones to take pictures in the few seconds that the whales are on the dark surface of the sea.

Benton focuses on the telephoto lens as the ship sways on the ocean waves.

– It can be difficult to get a good picture, as the boat must be kept a safe distance from the whales. And taking pictures in the dark is challenging, Benton says.

After a few hours, the ship turns and returns to Tromsø. Benton stays on deck. You have made the trip several times, in search of the optimal image that captures the light.

– The light is so different. It can be purple and orange. The colors turn completely bananas. For me, this is absolutely perfect. You have constantly changing lights and landscapes. I can stay on the sidelines for the entire trip, says Benton.