A guest on board the Norwegian coastal voyage vessel MS Nordlys, part of the Hurtigruten fleet, told a Tromsø newspaper over the weekend that he first thought he’d seen a mouse, but it turned out to be large cockroach on the panorama deck. Then a second large roach was found, and Hurtigruten officials have now reported the pest problem to police, claiming they’ve been victims of sabotage.
“We have reason to believe that the cockroaches were placed on the ship, and we have reported this to the police,” Hurtigruten’s communications director Anne Marit Bjørnflaten told state broadcaster NRK on Monday.
The roaches were discovered late Friday night, when the MS Nordlys was berthed in Tromsø on its way southbound. Two men who say they’ve made a habit of having a drink on board the ship when it comes into port on Friday reported the roach sightings and then told their story to newspaper ITromsø.
A search of the vessel revealed no additional roaches but when the ship arrived in Trondheim, Hurtigruten brought professional pest control experts on board. They failed to find any roaches either, and now Hurtigruten is crying foul.
“This incident has led to extraordinary measures and costs, and has unleashed negative media coverage,” Bjørnflaten told NRK. She said the company also intends to seek compensation from those responsible pending results of a police investigation.
newsinenglish.no/Nina Berglund