Cruise news

Dead fish are to be used to power cruise ships. Offcuts from fisheries will be mixed with other organic waste to run some of Hurtigruten’s fleet of 17 vessels.

The Norwegian firm has invested heavily in green technology, and plans to use liquified biogas (LBG), a fossil-free, renewable and clean gas used in buses.

By 2021, Hurtigruten – best known for ships that ferry tourists along the

country’s fjords and coastline and up into the Arctic – plans to operate at least six ships using biogas and batteries combined with liquified natural gas (LNG).

Hurtigruten chief Daniel Skjeldam said: “What others see as a problem, we see as a resource and a solution. By introducing biogas as fuel for cruise ships, Hurtigruten will be the first cruise company to power ships with fossil-free fuel.

“While competitors are running on cheap, polluting heavy fuel oil, our ships will literally be powered by nature. Biogas is the greenest fuel in shipping and will be

a huge advantage for the environment.”

The firm has also introduced the world’s first battery-hybrid powered cruise ship, MS Roald Amundsen, which is custombuilt for sustainable operations in destinations such as Antarctica and is due to be delivered next year; sister MS

Fridtjof Nansen is following in 2020 and an unnamed third vessel in 2021.

Hurtigruten expects to invest more than $850million in building the world’s greenest cruise line.

Skjeldam added: “This is just the beginning.”