Tuesday, May 10, 2016 - 17:05 by torshavn
After a hefty debate, the Faroese Parliament on Friday the 29th of May made the desired amendments in the local legislation that the Faroese Cruise Industry has been advocating.
In 2015, the Faroese Parliament agreed on some inconsiderate legislation, potentially penalizing every person on the Faroes. The 2015 legislation stated that anyone seeing a pod of whales in Faroese territory should report it to the authorities. If not, they could get fined or ultimately imprisoned. The 2015 legislation was aimed towards one very aggressive foreign organisation, which has created havoc on the Faroes for the past couple of years. Ever since the implementation of the 2015 legislation, members of the Faroese Cruise Industry have advocated heavily against the legislation, stating that it is - unintentionally – damaging the cruise industry in the whole North Atlantic.
The amendment agreed upon on last Friday states that while everybody still has to report any potential pod of whales to the authorities, no penalty is given for not reporting.
Sales and Marketing Manager in Port of Tórshavn, Annfinn Hjelm, is absolutely delighted that the joint effort of the combined industry pays off. Annfinn says “This means that every cruise liner can safely send back their cruise ships to Torshavn – neither crew nor guests will be at risk for being fined or penalized for seeing a whale”, and continuous by saying “that in combination with our harbour expansion commencing these days, and increased tug capabilities, we are definitely preparing ourselves for increased traffic in Torshavn”. Annfinn adds by saying that with this amended legislation, everybody wins – the Faroes industry in terms of increased turnover, the cruise lines in terms of increased revenue and least but not last, the cruise guest, for yet again being able to visit one of the most beautiful places on the earth, without worrying about inconsiderate legislation. Annfinn ends by saying that the continuous obligation to report any whale pods to the authority is understandable. “The authorities need to ensure that any potential whale hunt takes place in an organized way and that no one interferes in a cultural tradition that has taken place ever since the Faroes was populated more than 1000 years ago”.
