(Oslo / Norway) – The Norwegian cruise and fjord travel provider Hurtigruten is working on a concept for emission-free shipping. The company has now presented the first drafts of the initiative announced in March 2022 under the name “Sea Zero”.
“The challenge we faced was that we didn’t know what technologies would be available to us in 2030,” says Hedda Felin, Managing Director of Hurtigruten Norway. After a feasibility study, the decision was made to use electrically powered ships. The batteries would have a capacity of 60 megawatt hours and would be charged in the port. According to the plans, the new zero-emission ship will be 135 meters long and have 270 cabins that can accommodate 500 guests and 99 crew members.
Energy requirements will be reduced through “innovative hull and propulsion solutions,” said Henrik Burvang, research and innovation manager at Vard Group, the design and shipbuilding company behind the visual concept. This includes, among other things, a combination of wind power and photovoltaics, as well as improved maneuverability through artificial intelligence (AI) and retractable thrusters. The shipping company also wants to use AI to collect data for the most efficient arrival and departure procedures in the ports. In this way, operations can be optimized in difficult weather.
The proposed technologies would now be tested for a period of two years. The current research and development phase is focused on battery production, propulsion technology, hull design and more in order to reduce energy consumption “to an absolute minimum” and reduce it by 50 percent compared to Hurtigruten Norway's current ships.
The batteries of the newly planned watercraft will be charged with green electricity in the ports. In 2022, the share of renewable energy in Norway's total net electricity generation was almost 99 percent. A good 88 percent of this came from pumped storage and run-of-river power plants and more than ten percent from onshore wind energy.
Twelve companies and the Norwegian research institute SINTEF (Stiftelsen for industriell og teknisk forskning) are involved in the Hurtigruten consortium. When the first ship is ready in 2030, the company plans to convert its entire fleet.
Shipping companies are also testing hydrogen, ammonia and methanol
Maersk plans to have 2025 ships running on green methanol in operation by 19. © AP Moller-Maersk
Others are also working to reduce emissions from their fleets. For example, the major Danish shipping company AP Moller-Maersk on green methanol. The company, number 691 in container transport worldwide with 2 ships, has ordered a number of new methanol-powered ships and commissioned a number of companies worldwide to produce green methanol.
Ørsted and Esvagt have a methanol-powered service ship built. © Ørsted AS
The Danish energy company Ørsted A/S and the Danish offshore wind turbine services provider Esvagt A/S are investing in a service operation vessel (SOV) that can run on environmentally friendly fuels. The engines also run on e-methanol, which is made from wind energy and biogenic carbon. The new SOV will be 93 meters long, 19,60 meters wide and has a maximum draft of 6,50 meters. It is designed for 124 people and has a helipad. Esvagt will use the ship for Ørsted’s “Hornsea 2” offshore wind farm.
Hy-Ekotank: Teco 2030 plans to retrofit an Ektank ship with fuel cells and hydrogen storage. © Teco 2030
The Norwegian company Teco 2030 is to equip a product tanker belonging to the Swedish shipping company Ektank AB with hydrogen propulsion. Such a ship has several tanks that can be filled independently of one another for the transport of products derived exclusively from petroleum, such as gasoline, kerosene, naphtha or gas oil. The ship will operate emission-free at berth and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent during the journey.
Torghatten Nord has commissioned the Norwegian Ship Design Company to design hydrogen ships. © Norwegian Ship Design Company
The Norwegian shipping company Torghatten Nord SA has commissioned the Norwegian Ship Design Company to design two hydrogen ships. Delivery is planned for the fourth quarter of 2024 and commissioning for the following year. The investments are estimated at 19,2 million euros. The Norwegian government has stipulated that the new ferries across the Vestfjord between the Lofoten and Bodø must be emission-free. The capacity of each ship is 599 passengers, 120 cars and 12 trucks.
SINTEF wants to investigate the use of ammonia as a zero-emission fuel for shipping. Accordingly, one should Bunker network be developed. Azane Fuel Solutions, a joint venture between Econnect Energy and Amon Maritime, will reportedly develop, build and operate the first green ammonia terminal in a Norwegian port under real-world conditions. The Norwegian Ministry of the Environment is funding the “Ammonia Fuel Bunkering Network” project with 89 million Norwegian crowns (8,7 million euros).
2,6 percent of global CO2 emissions from ships
According to the Federal Environment Agency (UBA), around 90 percent of world trade takes place by sea. Shipping is responsible for around 2,6 percent of climate-damaging global CO2 emissions; According to the latest figures from the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), this was almost one billion tons in 2015. “That is more than Germany’s total emissions in 2019 of 810 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents,” said the Federal Environment Agency. “Without political countermeasures,” the International Maritime Organization (IMO) estimates that CO2 emissions from shipping could rise to up to 2050 million tons by 2.345.
According to the UBA, around a third of global ship movements have a destination or departure port in the European Union. The most frequently sailed seas are the North and Baltic Seas. More than 30.000 ships cross the Kiel Canal every year, and around 2.000 ships travel on the Baltic Sea every day.
A joint report published in 2021 by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and the European Environment Agency (EEA) concluded that in 2018, 13,5 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions in the EU transport sector were caused by ships (road transport 71 percent, aviation 14,4 percent). In contrast, according to Hurtigruten Norway, only 0,1 percent of ships worldwide currently operate emission-free.
The EMSA report “European Maritime Transport Environmental Report 2021” is available in English free of charge as a PDF (212 pages).
Graphics (4)
Visualization of the planned emission-free “Sea Zero” ship for Hurtigruten Norway in the Hjørundfjord. © Vard Design
