Hurtigruten Norway has initiated one of Europe’s largest environmental ship upgrades. With modern technology, the rebuilt ships will cut CO2 emissions by 25% and NOx emissions by as much as 80%.
With the upgrades, to be completed in 2023, guests can look forward to greener sailings on all of Hurtigruten Norway’s seven Norwegian Coastal Express ships.
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“This is the largest environmental upgrade in Hurtigruten’s history, and one of the largest of its kind in Europe,” said Hedda Felin, CEO, Hurtigruten Norway. “This will make a real impact in reducing emissions in Norwegian waters. The fact that such an investment also leads to ripple effects in the local communities along the coast, is something we are very proud of.”
Three of the seven ships will be converted to hybrid ships. The first is MS Richard With, which is currently at Myklebust Yard in northwestern Norway, where the ship will be fitted with brand new main engines and battery packs. The same will also be done onboard MS Kong Harald and MS Nordlys.
Three other ships – MS Nordnorge, MS Nordkapp and MS Polarlys – will also be upgraded, and have SCR facilities installed onboard. This will trim NOx emissions by a 80%. The last ship in the fleet, MS Vesterålen, was upgraded with brand new engines and SCR facilities in 2019.
“Our goal is zero emissions! But the technology is not mature enough yet, and we must do what we can to cut emissions with the best technology available today and extend the service life of the iconic ships we have in our fleet,” Felin said.
Norwegian technology
Hurtigruten Norway has entered into an agreement with Kongsberg Maritime for the ships that will become hybrids.
“This is one of the largest environmental vessel upgrades to be undertaken in Europe,” said Egil Haugsdal, President, Kongsberg Maritime.
“Hurtigruten Norway makes sustainable choices for its existing fleet. It’s rewarding to work with a company that shares our forward-looking approach to technology and the environment, and not least to work on ships that so many people have a close relationship with,“ Haugsdal said.
MS Richard With will return from the shipyard on 9 August. MS Kong Harald will then set sail for Myklebust Yard to do similar upgrades. MS Nordlys will follow, and in the first half of 2023 all ships in the Costal Express will be fully upgraded.