Spending some $120 million per year, Norway is basically subsidizing each passenger who travels on Hurtigruten or Havila on their coastal service. The program goes back to 1893 when the ships provided a vital link to remote coastal towns and villages along the Norwegian coast.

Now, that program is up for review again. Last time, the government decided to split the contract between Hurtigruten and startup Havila. This time, the recommendations from the consulting firm Oslo Economics may be more drastic, according to Norwegian news reports.

Based on the facts that the service is no longer as vital as it used to be, although some communities may depend on it during the winter months when road and air access are limited, and passenger numbers have been dropping, according to findings reported by Oslo Economics, Norway is looking at various alternatives.

These include reducing its requirement for the number of ports of call, the number of ships and departures, limiting the subsidies to service between Bodo and Kirkenes only, or to drop the subsidies altogether.

Today, Hurtigruten and Havila sail year-round with seven and four ships, respectively, calling at 34 ports between Bergen and Kirkenes. Havila built new ships for the service with the first entering service in 2021.

The bottom line, according to Oslo Economics, is that passenger capacity exceeds demand and that the ships only carry some 6 percent of the cargo in the regions they call. Their capacity is limited by short port calls and ability to carry frozen goods.

The subsidies for 2025 are about $88 million for Hurtigruten and $35 million for Havila.

The current subsidy agreement runs from 2021 to 2030.

Meanwhile, the local port communities are expected to voice their support for the current program to be continued.