(Photo: The new vessel will join all-electric sister ship Future of The Fjords. Credit: Brødrene Aa on Facebook)Norwegian cruise operator the Fjords plans to add an all-electric 400-passenger carbon fiber vessel to its fleet. Ship building company Brødrene Aa is currently constructing the catamaran in Norway, according to Maritime Executive.
Called Legacy of the Fjords, the new passenger vessel joins all-electric sister ships Vision of the Fjords and Future of the Fjords. Starting next July, Legacy of the Fjords will operate in Oslo, Maritime Executive reported. In all, The Fjords operates nearly a dozen vessels that take visitors on sightseeing trips around Western Norway.
“Legacy of the Fjords will employ a specially constructed PowerDock — a floating, charging solution originally designed for Future of the Fjords — allowing it to refill its 2.4-MWh battery capacity in just 20 minutes,” the outlet says. As Brødrene Aa explains, the dock charges steadily throughout the day via connection to the local grid network, which does not have the capacity to charge the vessel directly.
In addition, the PowerDock stores consumables, fuel for other vessels, and wastewater that gets offloaded on land for treatment. That way the vessels don't discharge sewage directly into the fjords.
“Future of the Fjords is the first vessel from Brødrene Aa without a combustion engine propulsion system,” the shipbuilding company said. “The boat will instead be powered by two electric engines of 585 horsepower each, which will receive power from a battery pack of 1800 kWh. This represents about 40 times the capacity of a typical electric car. The installation makes it possible for the vessel to operate at a speed of 16 knots for 30 nautical miles before the boat must be recharged.”
Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg christened Future of the Fjords earlier this month in the popular tourist destination Gudvangen. She also announced that the new Legacy of the Fjords vessel will receive support from state run organizations Enova and the NOx Fund, according to Maritime Executive.
The Fjords is jointly owned by tourism company Flåm AS and Fjord1, the country’s largest ferry company.
“This is a move that will surprise some in the industry, but one we see as a natural progression for this ambitious business,” the Fjords CEO Rolf Sandvik said. “Oslo is very different from Flåm, but we believe it should demand the same degree of operational responsibility and environmental care.”
In April, Norwegian ship owners made a public push to cut global shipping emissions in half by 2050 ahead of an International Maritime Organization meeting in London. That month, member nations agreed to a historic deal reducing total annual global shipping industry greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% by 2050 compared to 2008 levels.
