World’s first battery-powered cruise ship departs on maiden voyage

Hurtigruten’s hybrid expedition cruise ship Roald Amundsen headed out of Norway and towards Arctic waters for its maiden voyage on Monday, July 1.

The 500-passenger vessel, which is also the world’s first cruise ship to be partially propelled by battery power, is presently headed for Alaska via the Northwest Passage. It will then head south for Antarctica with an expected arrival in October.

Although Roald Amundsen‘s engines will run mainly on MGO, a battery pack would allow fully electric sailing for up to 60 minutes, as well as carbon dioxide emissions of as much as 20 per cent, Hurtigruten CEO Daniel Skjeldam confirmed.

Skjeldam added that a second hybrid cruise ship with a battery pack capacity twice that of Roald Amundsen will be delivered to the company later this year.