VESSEL REVIEW | Misteroy – Battery-electric double-ended ferry for operation in Norway’s Nordland County
Norwegian operator Torghatten Nord has taken delivery of Misterøy, a new double-ended battery-electric Ro-Pax ferry built by Turkey's Özata Shipyard for deployment on the Festvåg–Misten connection north of Bodø in Nordland County.
The ferry is the first unit in a series of three vessels built to a design by the Norwegian Ship Design Company. Sister vessels Fløytind and Møysalen will follow.
Misterøy passed Gibraltar earlier this month on her delivery voyage north.
The Festvåg–Misten crossing spans Mistfjorden and forms part of the road link between Bodø and Kjerringøy in Nordland. Torghatten Nord won the 10-year operating contract in May 2024. The contract commenced on January 1, 2025, and the company said at the time that a new fully electric 60-car ferry would be phased in from 2027.
Torghatten Nord Managing Director Marius Martin Hansen said Kjerringøy residents had relied on older ferries for a long time and that the company expected travellers to welcome a new vessel.
Expandable battery capacity coupled with backup diesel propulsion
Misterøy has an LOA of 76.85 metres (252.1 feet), a length between perpendiculars of 73.1 metres (240 feet), a beam of 15.5 metres (50.9 feet), a depth of 4.9 metres (16 feet), and a draught of 3.2 metres (10 feet). Her gross tonnage is 1,793, her net tonnage is 537, and her deadweight is 525.
The vehicle deck can transport up to 60 cars and there is accommodation for 195 passengers and seven crewmembers.
The ferry is classed by DNV with the notations ✠1A Ferry(B), Battery(Power), Cyber secure(Essential), E0 and Shore power, along with the service area notation R4(nor).
Power comes from an Akasol battery installation with a total output of 1,960 kWh. Torghatten said that this installation can be expanded. Two Volvo Penta D16 diesel generators are also fitted.
Built primarily for electric-only operation
Özata Shipyard has marketed the vessel as a fully electric ferry. According to Torghatten, the propulsion machinery can run on batteries alone, in hybrid mode with one or both generators supplementing the batteries, or in diesel-electric mode.
The ferry has two independent power and propulsion systems, one at each end, each driving an electric Schottel SRE thruster.
SEAM is the system integrator for Misterøy and Fløytind. The package on each ferry covers the battery system; the integrated automation and electric power management systems; the switchboards and transformers; a bridge and navigation package; and a shore power connection through Zinus autonomous charging towers.
Charging infrastructure at Festvåg is intended to enable fully electric operation on the ferry’s assigned route.
Maritime Montering completed the turnkey accommodation and interior outfitting.
The third ferry in the series was scheduled for delivery in August 2028 as of the launch.
Following Misterøy's delivery, Torghatten Nord has seven additional newbuildings due between 2026 and 2028 from shipyards in Turkey, Lithuania, Denmark and Norway.