Hurtigruten Delays Maiden Voyage of New Expedition Cruise Ship Roald Amundsen

(4 a.m. ET) -- Expedition cruise line Hurtigruten has been forced to delay the maiden voyage of its new ship Roald Amundsen due to unfinished onboard interior work.

The world's first hybrid-powered ship was due to set sail from Hamburg tomorrow with passengers onboard, but will instead leave from Tromso, in Norway, on Tuesday (July 2).

Roald Amundsen will skip various ports of call in southern Norway as well as sea days in order to get the work completed.

It is yet another delay for the 530-passenger ship, which was due to launch last year.

Hurtigruten is working closely with passengers affected to cover hotel costs, expenses and flights from Hamburg to Tromso.

A statement from the line read: "Hurtigruten’s groundbreaking expedition cruise ship MS Roald Amundsen is currently undergoing final outfitting at Kleven yard. Over the weekend, the onboard interior work has not progressed as expected. Unfortunately, this means that we have to adjust the plans for her maiden voyage.

"Putting an unfinished ship into operation is not an option. Neither is cancelling her maiden voyage. As world leaders in exploration travel, the Hurtigruten team handcrafted an adjusted maiden voyage – set to start a few days later in MS Roald Amundsen’s home port of Tromso on July 2nd."

Cruise Critic members reacted with disappointment at this latest setback: p18750 stated: "This ship was originally scheduled for launch last year and was rescheduled for June 19 and now they cannot make that date either. I understand there are no guarantees in the ship building process but to not know two days ahead of time whether or not a ship is ready is unforgivable."

The adjusted itinerary will see the ship heading north from Tromso to the North Cape, and onto Kirkenes, the last stop in Norway before the Russian border. It will then turn round and head south via Hammerfest, the Lofoten Islands and a number of smaller stops visited by traditional Hurtigruten ships sailing the classic Norwegian Coastal Voyage. The cruise ends in Hamburg on July 11.