Norway’s bond with the sea and maritime innovation have not slackened in 10 centuries. Starting with the then revolutionary longships powered by wind and oar that carried the Vikings to North America in the west and Asia in the east, it’s now produced the world’s first battery-powered cruise ship.
The new hybrid-powered cruise ship, MS Roald Amundsen, left Kleven yard after it’s delivery to veteran expedition cruise company, Hurtigruten, at the end of June 2019, relying solely on her emission-free huge battery packs to power the start her maiden journey along the west coast of Norway. And, according to Hurtigruten, when used in support of the low emission engines during long expeditions, she will still cut the level of emissions of CO2 by 20% in comparison with other similar-sized ships.
Not Just The Batteries Are Green
Other “green” steps taken in her construction have landed another world first for the cruise ship. It has also been designed to be completely free of single-use plastic. And a fully-equipped high-tech Science Centre has been included to enable research to be carried out during expeditions.
The 140meter long, 13.6 m wide ship with a 5.3m draft and gross tonnage of 20,889 tonnes, has a cruising speed of about 15 knots. It also has 265 cabins (more than half with their own balconies) which are capable of housing 530 passengers on the expedition cruises planned for the ship.