Tersan shipyard, despite calling itself a major European shipyard, is new to cruise shipbuilding.

“It started with some ferry projects. They were not standard ferries but either 100-percent battery-operated electric ferries or hybrid ferries – electric and LNG combined. And these were highly advanced and challenging projects, which led us to investigate more into the cruise market and passenger market, where it’s brought us the Havila coastal passenger vessels,” said Business Development and Marketing Director at Tersan, Sakir Erdogan.

“It’s fair to say that we are new in the market, and we are taking the steps slowly but very confidently. Starting with the coastal passenger vessels, and, hopefully, it will lead us to the big cruise market as well,” he added.

The four Havila ships – the Castor, Capella, Polaris and Pollux – are 468-passenger ships that run as hybrids.

“They’re very green vessels. But not just from the low emission point of view; they also include waste management system, waste heat management system, heat recovery system, and low heat consumption equipment like LED lighting. They’re also equipped with stabilizers to bring a smoother and more comfortable sailing. These vessels will be one-of-a-kind vessels and, hopefully, will provide very good service for the passengers,” Erdogan said.

The main designer for the hull of the Havila ships is in Norway, according to Erdogan. Another Norwegian supplier, MIS, is involved in electric integration and solutions.

“We have some solution partners who are extremely specialized and experienced in their fields. That allows the work to move faster and smoother because these suppliers and business partners can provide faster and easier solutions for us,” he explained. “All physical construction, installation and building of the vessel take place in our own premises, in the shipyard … And we’re involved more or less in every stage and every part of the vessels.”

Erdogan explained that the transition to passenger ships was natural.

“Tersan has been involved with a lot of advanced fish factory vessels, fishing vessels and other ships with highly advanced technology features – such as crab catcher, crab processor, many longliners. They boast a bigger size and highly advanced technology and have been a standard for us for some seven-eight years,” he said.

According to Erdogan, after Tersan secured the Havila deal, it received many inquiries regarding cruise vessels. Those inquiries had stopped when the pandemic came.

“We will always keep our slots and lines open for fishing vessels and these types of products. But on the other hand, after these good and successful projects for Havila, we will have reserved slots and lines to try and dedicate them to future passenger and cruise vessels,” he said.

Erdogan said that Tersan can deliver around five to six ‘Havila-sized’ passenger vessels a year.

“But when it comes to cruise, I think it would be a little bit less than that,” he noted.