The goal was to get more hands-on experience about what a modern ship looks like and how it all works, to understand the customer needs better, and in the end, to develop the best possible product for the users.
The team was welcomed by Ove Stenersen, Head of Electro & Automation at Havila Kystruten AS and Torleif Bjørknes, Chief Engineer of Havila Castor and gave a guided tour of the engine, propulsion and switchboard rooms, explaining each part of the different systems and answering the many questions the developers had. The tour ended on the bridge, where the team first-hand saw how they navigated the ship through the fjords.
The developers all agreed that it was exciting to finally get onboard a vessel and to see the various components, which until now have been relatable only as code, without really knowing what it is or what it looks like. Many puzzle pieces fell into place.
“I think it will be easier to put myself in the user’s perspective when developing the product now that I’ve been onboard a real vessel,” Peter Skarmyr says, one of the developers hired earlier this year.
After the guided tour, the team enjoyed the rest of the trip as tourists – exploring the ship inside and outside, eating a lovely lunch in the Havrand restaurant and relaxing on deck. It was a perfect day weather-wise, and to sail through the Geiranger fjord past the Seven Sisters waterfalls with zero noise and zero emissions since the ship runs entirely on batteries when sailing through this fjord, was a fantastic experience.
