Salmon waste to power cruise liners

A NORWEGIAN cruise line operator is planning to use salmon waste and dead fish to power its ship in what is being hailed as a ground-breaking green initiative.

The Hurtigruten line, which offers cruises to some of the world’s remoter regions, is investing more than £600 million in new sustainable technology.

It said that up to six of its cruise ships, including three new hybrid powered vessels, will be fuelled by liquified biogas made from fish and other organic waste by 2021.

Next year will see the launch of MS Roald Amundsen, the world’s first battery hybrid powered cruise ship, which will have almost silent engines, thus helping to avoid disturbing marine life.

The shipping line will be the first company in the world to use this type of fuel on such a large scale and should help to counter the claim by many environmentalists that shipping companies are a major contributor to global pollution.

The ships will sail on a combination of natural gas and liquid biogas - a fossil-free, climate neutral fuel produced by waste and by-products from fish farming, conventional fisheries, forestry and agriculture.

And as Norway is the world’s largest salmon farming country and is also heavily forested, the shipping company is not expecting to encounter any fuel shortage problems in future.

Hurtigruten CEO Daniel Skjeldam said: ‘Biogas is the most environmentally friendly fuel available today. While most of our competitors are still sailing on cheap, polluting heavy oil, our ships will literally be driven by nature.

‘And what we are doing is just the beginning. We are pushing for more investment into further green technology.”

Frederic Hauge from the environmental organisation Bellona, which for years has been a driving force for the development of biogas, said Hurtigruten had taken a seriously important step towards improving the environment.