The initiative will see the vessel utilising renewable electricity from Iceland, where 85 per cent of primary energy comes from domestic renewable sources, according to the country's Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate.
HX (Hurtigruten Expeditions), which offers various itineraries around Iceland, has set another milestone in sustainable shipping according to Damian Perry, Hurtigruten Managing Director, Asia Pacific.
“Utilising sustainable shore-power infrastructure minimises emissions during port calls. As the leading provider of sustainable expedition cruises, this is an important component of HX's strategy to make our expedition voyages climate-neutral by 2050,” Perry explains.
All HX ships are equipped with shore power connections; last year, HX's MS Maud was the first ship to use shore power at the Faxagardur Terminal in Iceland. According to Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), less than two per cent of ports have such facilities, projecting a slight increase to three per cent shore-side power by 2025.
Sigurður Jökull Ólafsson from Faxaflóahafnir sf. (Associated Icelandic Ports) says: “HX is the perfect partner as they have broad experience with shore power connections on the Norwegian coast, and we are very pleased to be working with HX to take this innovative development forward. The expansion of shore power capacity is an important step to further improve the air quality in our harbour. We hope to encourage other operators to do the same.”
Halla Hrund Logadóttir, Director-General of the Icelandic National Energy Authority Orkustofnun, and the Norwegian ambassador for Iceland, Cecilie Willoch, attended an inauguration ceremony for the new shore power connection earlier this month.
In her speech, Willoch highlighted the long-standing cooperation between Iceland and Norway and its importance to drive green transition further in the future. The celebrations also highlighted the crucial cooperation between local authorities, ports, cruise companies, shipbuilders and the technology industry.
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