Tromso (TAN): Norway-based expedition cruise company Hurtigruten will launch battery-powered and emission-free catamarans next spring that are custom-made to navigate polar waters.
Hurtigruten collaborated with Norwegian start-up Brim Explorer on a 78-foot vessel which will operate from the port of Longyearbyen on the Arctic island of Svalbard under the Hurtigruten Svalbard brand.
Chief Executive Officer of Hurtigruten, Daniel Skjeldam, said: “Brim and Hurtigruten found each other through our common passion for the oceans. Their vision to change the way people experience the Arctic is a perfect match for our bold sustainability ambitions. We firmly believe the future of travel is emission free.”
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“At Hurtigruten, we follow strict standards of sustainability, and we demand our partners to adopt the same specifications. Brim is challenging the expedition cruise industry to move in a greener direction, just like Hurtigruten, and together, we can offer an experience that is truly unique and sustainable — both for our guests and the communities we visit,” he continued.
The hybrid catamaran will run on large battery packs with an operating power of up to ten hours at a cruising speed of ten knots. The batteries with 800 kwh capacity, will be able to recharge at any port.
“A green footprint is the future of the travel industry, in the polar regions and elsewhere. With a great idea – and dedicated partners like Hurtigruten — we have set out to build a vessel unlike any the world has seen,” Brim Explorer co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Agnes Árnadóttir said.
Árnadóttir added: “By combining green technology, clean Nordic design, and a focus on sustainable travel, we have created the first sightseeing vessel in the world that is able to operate a full day on electric power. We look forward to using our knowledge to help move the travel industry in a greener direction, together with Hurtigruten.”
The explorer catamaran, with a capacity to accommodate 140 guests, will be fitted with hydrophones and underwater drones from another Norwegian start-up Blueye Robotics so that the wildlife both above and below the water surface can be exhaustively captured. The drones will feature in many other Hurtigruten’s expedition cruise ships and all Brim Explorer experiences.
Hurtigruten has taken several other green initiatives, including ban on single-use plastics, and the launch of the world’s first hybrid electric-powered cruise ship MS Roald Amundsen this year. The company is also reconstructing its existing ships so that they can operate on a “combination of large battery packs, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and biogas (LBG)”, an initiative it claims to be an industry first. The biogas will be produced from organic waste of dead fish.
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Hurtigruten and its subsidiary Hurtigruten Svalbard plan to work with Brim Explorer to develop improve green technology, such as “integrating solar panels with the electric driveline to exploit the 24-hour Arctic sun to charge the batteries while sailing” and developing renewable energy stations in smaller ports for charging.
Brim Explorer’s first watercraft, that is presently being built in Norway, will be introduced in August this year. It will sail to northern Norway throughout the year and the Lofoten Islands in spring and summer.
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