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The Norwegian shipping company Hurtigruten has just announced that it wants to feed some of its cruise ships with biogas, a cleaner fuel. A substitute for heavy fuel oil, which should notably be produced from rather unconventional substances: fish residues.
100,000 euros: this is the amount of the fine imposed on the captain and the owner of the Azura, an American cruise ship fueled by a fuel exceeding the sulfur limit defined by the legislation. A first judicial in France, which brings to light again a recurring problem: that of pollution by steamers.
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In this context, the Norwegian shipping company Hurtigruten has launched an unprecedented initiative: replace the heavy fuel oil fueling its ships with biogas. A decision welcomed by the CEO of the company Daniel Skjeldam, in a statement to AFP: "By introducing biogas as a fuel for [ses] Cruise ships, Hurtigruten will be the first company [maritime] to propel boats with non-fossil fuel ".
It is indeed from a raw material far from conventional fossil substances that the Norwegian company intends to produce the gas necessary for the propulsion of its ships: residues from the fishing industry. Abundant waste in the country, whose economy is resolutely turned towards the sea.
Make a problem a solution
"What others see as a problem, we consider it as a resource and a solution ", says Daniel Skjeldam. It is therefore from fish residues, but also from other organic waste that this biogas will be produced. The operation must be implemented in the coming months.
"The first boat [alimenté] to biogas could be ready by the end of next year ", says spokesman Hurtigruten Rune Thomas Ege. By 2021, the shipping company plans to introduce into its fleet of 17 vessels, 6 buildings capable of sailing via a propulsion system combining biogas, liquefied natural gas, and electric batteries.
Ambitions to more or less long term
This short-term perspective is part of an even more ambitious environmental policy. The Norwegian shipping company intends to reach carbon neutrality in the next 30 years. A wish motivated in particular by the nature of the maritime areas frequented by cruise ships – Arctic and Antarctic in mind -; particularly affected by pollutant releases from shipping.
In addition to these long-distance cruises, Norway is also targeting "zero emissions" in its fjords by 2026. A goal supported by Hurtigruten, as Daniel Skjeldam finally points out: "[Être] the largest cruise line in the world comes with responsibilities ". Announcement effect, wishful thinking or real awareness? The future will tell if the ambitions of the Norwegian shipping company will materialize as expected in a few years.
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