Hurtigruten said Russian authorities have abruptly denied it
permission to land two previously scheduled calls in the Arctic archipelago of
Franz Josef Land.
The calls were scheduled to take place toward the end of
August.
A Hurtigruten statement said that its ship MS Spitsbergen
meets the requirements of the polar code and had permission to operate in that
part of the Arctic.
"Despite this fact, and at the last minute, the final
remaining permits from Russian authorities have unexpectedly been denied, and
we have not been granted the necessary final sailing permission to Franz Josef
Land," a Hurtigruten statement said.
Two Spitsbergen cruises have been canceled and Hurtigruten
has offered refunds or alternative expedition cruises to about 250 passengers.
The decision is all the more surprising because Russia has
been vocal in seeking to increase its cruise tourism in the remote area, said
Anne Marit Bjoernflaten, Hurtigruten's senior vice president of sustainability
and public affairs.
The Berents Observer, which is published in the Norwegian
Arctic area, said that a large-scale Russian military exercise is scheduled to
kick off in the region in September.
Russia annexed Franz Josef Land in 1926.
Franz Josef Land is in the Arkhangelsk Oblast, the same
Russian region in which a failed nuclear military test on an offshore platform
in the White Sea resulted in a sizeable radiation emission on Aug. 8.