Hurtigruten pauses expansion into West Africa owing to regional ‘instability’

Hurtigruten, meanwhile, will welcome Maud back to its fleet later this year on secondment from HX while it continues with its ongoing programme of environmental upgrades to its ships.

Maud, which joined the HX fleet in 2021, will temporarily return to sailing Hurtigruten’s Coastal Express voyages under the group’s contract with the Norwegian state from 1 November before rejoining the HX fleet in 2026.

In the intervening period this year, Maud will – starting mid-April – sail a series of planned British Isles itineraries before repositioning for the Arctic for the summer.

Maud previously sailed the Norwegian coast between 2003 and 2016 as part of the Hurtigruten Coastal Express fleet. It started operating in Antarctica in 2016 before transferring to HX in 2021.

Hurtigruten Group said the interim fleet changes owed to its "massive" programme of environmental upgrades to its fleet, adding HX would amend fleet deployments following "its most successful Antarctic season ever".

"Hurtigruten is undertaking the most significant environmental upgrade in the cruise industry," claimed Hurtigruten Group chief executive Daniel Skjeldam.

"The diverse fleet capabilities of the Hurtigruten Group gives us the opportunity to temporarily move Maud from HX to Hurtigruten, filling the void left by the upgrade programme. Maud will return to HX again in 2026."

The group said any guests booked on impacted sailings have already been contacted directly or would be contacted by their travel agent. They have the option of accepting 125% future cruise credit, depending on their itinerary, or taking a full refund.

Guests on selected Antarctic sailings onboard Maud have automatically been transferred to sailings on Fridtjof Nansen, Fram or Roald Amundsen.