Norway’s CEO Evangelist for Electric Cruise Ships
Photo Caption: MS Ronald Amundsen at Paradise Bay, Antarctica Oscar Farrera
Skift Take
Having seen the impact of climate change firsthand, Hurtigruten Group's Daniel Skjeldam is driven by a powerful motivation to innovate even if it means eating the associated higher costs of electricity-powered ships to drive the industry forward. Hopefully other cruise operators will come around.
Hurtigruten Group, a Norway-based cruise and transportation company, launched the world’s first battery hybrid-powered cruise ship, MS Roald Amundsen, in 2019 and has been slowly phasing the tech into its cruise line. While electric cars and now airplanes dominate the news of the technology in travel, Hurtigruten's leadership is a welcome sign for a cruise industry that often finds itself in the crosshairs of environmentalists.
The company's Hurtigruten Expeditions now has three in its fleet, including MS Fridtjof Nansen, which has been labeled as the safest and most sustainable cruise ship in the world by Scope ESG Analysis, a credit rating agency.
While other cruise operators experiment with biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuels, Hurtigruten, which is over 100 years old, is focused on electric. The idea for the technology was inspired by the use of batteries in Norway’s ferry sector, Tesla and Toyota Prius, according to Hurtigrute
