The future is electric onboard, according to ABB, with one Norwegian ferry operator, The Fjords, already well on the way.
The dual-fuel, 400-passenger Vision of the Fjords (built 2016) shows what is possible with battery operation of shortsea ferries.
The Fjords’ chief executive, Rolf Sandvik, told the round table that the company has faith that passengers will pay more for an environmentally friendly vessel. It uses battery power to sail half its 20-nautical-mile journey, which takes it through the Naeroyfjord World Heritage Site.
Sandvik believes the firm’s environmental stance will give it even more of a competitive edge in future, even with 95% of its customers coming from outside affluent Norway.
The Vision of the Fjords cost about NOK 100m ($12m) and a second vessel coming in 2018 will cost NOK 120m. That makes for tough competition against ageing ferries that cost peanuts by comparison.
The Fjords has also already embarked on a fuel-cell-powered project. “We are trying to build an H2 [hydrogen] ferry in a refit of a 50-year-old vessel,” Sandvik said. But he believes environmental regulation is needed. “Now it is used against us because regulation could turn [distort] competition in the fjords. You have to ask, what are the politicians up to? Do they want a cleaner future, or do they not see it coming?”
He says local politicians are the main block. They shunt the issue up to national level, where it is then passed on to the International Maritime Organization, which is in danger of “becoming a scapegoat for taking a stand on the environmental business we are trying to create”.
