– I was called by Daniel Skjeldam who demanded that we stop the press release mentioning Hurtigruten. He instructs me that I must have it stopped. And threaten that this amounts to billions. I said I don’t think we should threaten financial consequences. This was explained by former operations director of Hurtigruten, Bent Martini in the witness box in Nord-Troms and Senja district court. He became known as the only one who had to leave after the major corona outbreak on Hurtigruten’s expedition ship “Roald Amundsen” in the summer of 2020, also known as the biggest corona scandal in Norway. Now he explains for the first time what happened. The trial ongoing in Tromsø is about the doctor and the captain of the cruise ship, who were fined for not notifying the Norwegian authorities. Central to the trial has been what the management of the shipping company on land really knew. And, who made the decision not to notify about an outbreak on board a cruise ship with several hundred people on board. Economic countermeasures What Bent Martini says coincides with what the infection control doctor in Hadsel in Nordland and the ship’s doctor on the first voyage told on Tuesday. Several people notified, but the message was stopped by management. Martini said under oath that it was Hurtigruten’s managing director Daniel Skjeldam who asked him to threaten the infectious disease specialist in Hadsel with financial consequences if the company was mentioned. – I said we can’t do that. Then he said I should do that. That we have pressure on us, and that Skjeldam is willing to take financial countermeasures to this. news has asked Hurtigruten for Daniel Skjeldam’s comments on Martini’s testimony. Press officer Øystein Knoph replies that neither the company nor any individuals in the company are parties to this case. They therefore do not think it is right for them to comment on individual statements from the trial. “The company was fined this winter with a fine of one million kroner, which we have adopted. No more individuals are or have been charged or prosecuted for any other matters. The police have carried out a very thorough and extensive investigation over almost two years. The statements news is asking questions about have been discussed, covered and commented on in the media in the past, and also thoroughly reviewed in the independent external investigation that was published in autumn 2020,” he writes in an email. In front of Dagens Næringsliv, Skjeldam has previously denied that he instructed Bent Martini, but said that he participated in the discussion. This was also revealed in the investigation report that was presented in the aftermath of the scandal. CEO of Hurtigruten, Daniel Skjeldam. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum/NTB scanpix – Did not have enough weight According to Martini, Skjeldam believed that it was not likely that the infection originated from “Roald Amundsen”. This even though some of the passengers were so ill that they needed oxygen when they arrived at the hospital after the expedition. Former infection control doctor in Hadsel, Martin Larsen Drageset explained in court on Tuesday that if he mentioned Hurtigruten and it was not true, there would be financial consequences for which “someone must be responsible”. – Here I realized that there was no point in discussing more. I didn’t have enough weight, said Drageset. In court, Bent Martini supports the doctor’s testimony, and describes that he too was both instructed and threatened that billions were at stake by the CEO. Two dates are central news has previously revealed that the top management knew about the outbreak as early as March and failed to tell the authorities about this, in order to get a sailing permit. Hurtigruten had 19 sick people in isolation when “Fridtjof Nansen” came home to Norway in March. The investigative report that Hurtigruten itself ordered after the scandalous voyage in July emphasized that it was the quarantine rules and the testing that did not go well. But already after three days in court, where, among other things, the captain, the ship’s doctor on the first and second voyages and the infection control doctor in Hadsel have explained themselves, the conclusions in Hurtigruten’s own investigation report are beginning to show cracks. Because according to news’s previous revelations and what comes out in court, Hurtigruten failed the most on 22 July and 29 July, and when they really should have sounded the alarm. On Tuesday, the ship’s doctor on the first voyage explained that he had notified safety manager Roy Pedersen about possible infection, but that he had to confer with Asta Lassesen in the top management first. And the captain presented evidence that he warned about a possible outbreak of infection. 29 July 14:45 The captain: Hello. Stokmarkne’s medical office will go out with corona infection at RA. One guest was infected two days after returning home. Will talk to Bent (Martini, jour.adm) here on board. 29. July 16:20 RERune Thomas Ege: Have heard. Is in dialogue with Bent (Martini), Roy (Pedersen) and Ola (Sandman). We will take control! Martini says it was Lassesen who held the cards when the infectious disease doctor in Hadsel wanted to issue the press release. In court, Bent Martini spoke about the procedures that had been put in place ahead of the first voyage, in order to handle an outbreak of infection. – Hurtigruten was organized in such a way that Asta Lassesen’s communications department was responsible for the resources and was to run the procedures. Hurtigruten has adopted a fine of NOK one million for the corona voyage. But no other individuals have been fined. Bent Martini was clearly affected after telling himself in Nord-Troms district court about the days before and after the scandal sailing in 2020. Photo: Ida Louise Rostad / news – I said we had to prioritize correctly In court, Bent Martini explained about the hours after he arrived in Oslo 31 July 2020. That he sat in long meetings with Daniel Skjeldam and Asta Lassesen. He concluded in the meeting that Hurtigruten as an emergency organization did not work. – We clearly disagree very much. My focus is on handling the situation. I said we were going to be measured by how we handle it, not by finding scapegoats. I said we had to prioritize correctly. They disagreed with that. Later in the evening, he is told that he should have nothing to do with the emergency response. – And on 6 August I was told that I had to go on leave. Bent Martini went to competitor Havila when he left Hurtigruten.
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Bent Martini claims Daniel Skjeldam in Hurtigruten threatened with financial consequences – news Troms and Finnmark
